Updated: December 11, 2020 8:30:07 pm
Guwahati: Members of the Young Doctors Association organize a protest in solidarity with the Indian Medical Association strike against myxopathy and demand withdrawal of the CCIM notice, at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital in Guwahati on Friday. (PTI photo)
Members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and doctors across the country are staging protests on Friday against the Center’s move to train postgraduate Ayurveda practitioners to perform surgical procedures.
On November 19, a government notification listed the specific surgical procedures that an Ayurveda graduate medical student should be “practically trained to become familiar with as well as to perform independently.” The notification has invited Sharp criticism of the Indian Medical Association, who questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out these procedures and described the notification as an attempt at “myxopathy.”
The IMA has called for the withdrawal of non-essential and non-COVID services between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday to protest against the notification. However, emergency medical services are exempt from the realm of agitation.
Reacting to the strike, IMA National President Dr R Sharma said: “Modern medicine is controlled and research oriented, we are proud of the heritage and richness of Ayurveda, but the two should not be mixed “.
More than 30,000 Gujarati doctors have joined the IMA strike call. “More than 30,000 of our Gujarat member physicians, including 9,000 from Ahmedabad, have joined the protest today,” said Dr. Kamlesh Saini, IMA (Gujarat Branch) Secretary.
“We demand the withdrawal of the notification of the CCIM Law and the NITI Aayog committee for the integration (of all medical systems). We urge the government to take into account the complaints of doctors against this myxopathy. The IMA will continue its agitation until our demands are met, ”Saini said, quoted by PTI.
Physicians from AIIMS and various Delhi government run facilities including LNJP Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Superspecialty Hospital, DDU Hospital, GTB Hospital, BSA Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Hindu Rao Management Hospital civic, performed their duties with black armbands
The AIIMS-Delhi Resident Medical Association, in a statement, said: “This step will not only encourage already rampant quackery, but will also undermine the safety of the public. We request the Government of India to withdraw this notification immediately. “
“We support our medical fraternity in this regard and we support the strike called by the Indian Medical Association,” he said.
Private hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centers in Uttar Pradesh have also provided support for the strike. Emergency services and the treatment of COVID-19 patients have been exempted and government doctors are not part of the strike.
According to the chairman of the IMA’s Uttar Pradesh unit, Dr. Ashok Rai, there are 21,500 private hospitals, pathologies, diagnostic centers and private doctors in the state that are observing the strike.
Explaining the reasons for observing the strike, Dr. Rai told PTI that Ayush’s doctors received permission to perform surgeries after taking a bridging course. As of now, allopathic, ayurveda, Unani and homeopathy have their different identities and mixing them to create ‘myxopathy’ would have serious repercussions, he said.
“IMA officials will hold demonstrations in all districts of the state and deliver the memorandum addressed to the prime minister through the respective district magistrates demanding the withdrawal of this decision,” he added.
IMA-affiliated doctors in Maharashtra kept dispensaries, OPDs and clinics closed for some time on Friday in support of the organization’s call for protest. “We are not against any particular system of medicine, but the government’s decision to mix two systems and allow Ayurveda practitioners to perform surgery is very risky. Anything could go wrong if the surgeon is inexperienced, ”an IMA member told PTI.
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