Health minister meets doctors

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday met doctors protesting against the National Medical Commission Bill and urged them to resume work, saying the legislation is in the interest of doctors, patients, medical students and the society.
His appeal came as resident doctors at several government hospitals continued their strike for the second day against the legislation that seeks to regulate the medical education sector. The doctors say the bill promotes quackery and is “anti-poor, anti-student and undemocratic”.
The government has described the bill, which will replace the corruption-plagued Medical Council of India with a new body — the National Medical Commission, as one of the biggest reforms in medical education.
The legislation was passed by Rajya Sabha Thursday night but it will go back to Lok Sabha as two amendments need to be approved by it.
On Friday, as the doctors continued their strike and threatened to prolong it indefinitely, Vardhan met their representatives, who included people from AIIMS and RML hospitals in Delhi and Federation of Resident Doctors Association.
He said he tried to clear their doubts about some provisions in the bill. “They had queries about AIIMS being included for the NEET. They wanted clarity on the NEXT, how one can get admission to PG through this exam and also on the definition of community health providers,” Vardhan said.
The bill proposes a common final-year MBBS examination — the National Exit Test (NEXT) — for admission to post-graduate courses and to obtain licence to practice medicine.
“I addressed their queries and told them how NMC will work and also explained them the role of Community Health Providers (CHP). It should be noted that the concept of mid-level practitioners is recognised worldwide and this concept has also been highlighted by the WHO and the Lancet Journal,” the minister added.
Vardhan also cited examples of developed and developing countries like the US, the UK, Australia, China and Africa to support his argument that they too follow a similar arrangement. (PTI)