Violence on docs: IMA seeks Shah's help in enacting Central Law
New Delhi: In view of the increasing violence against the medical fraternity, Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written a letter to Home Minister of India Amit Shah, seeking to strengthen the anti-violence act until the central law is enacted.
"Violence in our hospitals is a matter of great concern. It demotivates our doctors and defensive medicine costs lives. The larger issue of safety of our hospitals, doctors, nurses and caregivers remains. A solution to this complex issue should be found during our generation. It is a complex issue defying simplistic solution. The solution cannot but start from first countenancing the existence of the problem and acknowledging the qualitative difference of violence in hospitals," Dr. Rajan Sharma, National President, IMA said.
He added that equating violence in common parlance with doctors and nurses getting beaten up in gruesome manner is injustice. "The medical fraternity expects our National Government to begin this process by enacting a Central Law against violence on doctors and hospitals. We kindly request your goodself to initiate action in this regard," he added.
IMA said that the behavioural aberrations of a consumerist society, inappropriate expectations, ignorance of limitations, infrastructural and Human Resources constraints, inadequate support systems to defray the cost of treatment, absence of structured communication and counselling logistics etc contribute to the civilisational degeneration called violence on doctors and hospitals.
"A comprehensive solution to the violence on doctors and hospitals needs to address the security level in our hospitals. These arrangements should be on par with our airports. It will not be out of place to point out that a central deterrent law is in place for prevention of violence against airlines personnel. A much larger perspective will include sufficient investment in Public Health infrastructure and Human Resources. A State sponsored mechanism to purchase care from private hospitals for all citizens is also in order," Dr. RV Asokan, Secretary General, IMA said.
