IMA demands setting up of all-India medical services for healthcare administration

New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded the setting up of an Indian Medical Service (IMS), on the lines of IAS, IPS and IFS, to bring about a drastic change in the healthcare sector, the doctors' body said.

The IMA feels that there is a dire need for a drastic change in health administration which can be realised by raising a new cadre of administrators, it said in a statement. The IMS will be responsible for holding the administrative responsibilities pertaining to the district medical officer, project officers of various disease control programmes, and the various ranks of secretaries in the Union health ministry and the state health departments and the heads all other areas in the health sector, Dr Rajan Sharma, IMA national president, said.

The basic qualification to sit for the IMS examination should be MBBS, he said.

"Even though IMA has been enthusiastically working, we request the government of India to emphasize upon the certain major provisions. Meticulously continuing the public health activities of contact-tracing and testing will ensure a minimal morbidity rate," he said.

"There is an urgent need for a new post-COVID healthcare policy providing equal priority to non-COVID care as well," Sharma added.