Doctors across the country withdraw services, many sport black ribbons
New Delhi: Scores of doctors at several hospitals in Delhi and other cities across the country on Friday staged protests against the Centre's move to allow postgraduate practitioners of Ayurveda to be trained in performing surgical procedures. They kept the dispensaries, OPDs and clinics shut for 12 hours. Thousands of non-critical medical operations and routine consultations across the country were reportedly disrupted. Around 10 lakh doctors were reportedly on strike across the country.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had on December 1 given the nation-wide call for the withdrawal of non-essential and non-COVID services between 6 am and 6 pm, has demanded the withdrawal of the government notification.
The November 20 notification by the CCIM, a statutory body under the AYUSH ministry to regulate the Indian systems of medicine, listed 39 general surgery procedures and around 19 procedures involving the eye, ear, nose and throat by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016.
IMA president Dr Rajan Sharma said, "Allowing doctors of Ayurveda to conduct surgeries would be a compromise with the health of patients. The notification of the amendment to the CCIM Act on post-graduate Ayurveda surgery and the entitlement to study and practise independently have to be seen as another step in advancing and legitimising mixopathy," he said.
"We are not against any particular system of medicine, but the government's decision of mixing two systems and allowing Ayurveda practitioners to perform surgeries is highly risky. Anything could go wrong if the surgeon is not experienced," an IMA member said.
"Knowledge of diagnosis and medicines is one thing, but performing a surgery is altogether different. If anything goes wrong during the surgery, someone's life is at stake," he said.
In Delhi, doctors at the AIIMS and various city government-run facilities, including the LNJP hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospital, DDU hospital, GTB hospital, BSA hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital and the civic-run Hindu Rao Hospital, performed their duties wearing black armbands and ribbons.
Doctors at various hospitals in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat among other states, responded to the IMA's call by striking work or withdrawing OPD services.
Around 1,500 doctors in Goa and over 30,000 doctors from Gujarat took part in the nationwide protest. Medical services were hit in Kerala as government and private doctors struck work in support of the call. Private hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres in Uttar Pradesh also extended support to the call.
West Bengal secretary Santunu Sen said "The government of India started gradually centralizing the entire controlling power since long. They started dissolving the democratically elected bodies like the Medical Council of India and replacing them with hand picked people. Through the National Education Policy they have planned to ruin the Medical Education System."
The Centre, instead of promoting individual age old ancient system of medicine is "simply promoting quackery and mixopathy". "Will they themselves go to an ayurved surgeon for their own surgeries?" Sen asked.
