NAGPUR: A team of Indian Medical Association (IMA) members is currently going through the 104-page draft of the National Medical Commission (NMC) regarding the regulations for conduct of registered medical practitioners (RMPs) in India.
“Comments, changes, objections and suggestions will be submitted only after considering the entire document point-by-point,” said Dr Prakash Deo, senior public health expert, who took over as president of IMA, Nagpur, recently.
“The draft was recently uploaded for perusal of the fraternity, public, experts and all other stakeholders. But fake WhatsApp messages about it being implemented immediately went viral. I request fraternity members not to panic. The draft is yet to be studied fully. All messages being forwarded on social media are half truth,” said Dr Deo, a well-known public health specialist and retired ICS (International Civil Services) officer of the UN.
Ever since the draft regulations were placed in public domain last week, messages like the NMC will be banning tele-consultation, a complete ban on publishing news about some rare or skilled surgery, and strict guidelines about social media conduct have gone viral. Doctors on Monday made it clear there is no truth in such messages.
“Deciding the code of conduct for doctors is not an easy task. We work in challenging situations and it’s not possible to follow the typical protocols every time. The process to finalize the code of conduct has just begun and it will take time,” said Dr Ashok Adhav, patron of IMA, Nagpur. The new team of IMA Nagpur had an informal discussion with reporters on Monday.
Plastic surgeon Dr Sameer Jahagirdar has taken over as secretary of IMA Nagpur, while professor of community medicine at NKP Salve Medical College and epidimeologist Dr Aniruddha Deoke is the treasurer for the year 2022-23. Both said activities that lagged behind due to the pandemic in the last two years will be restarted.
“Our focus will be on organizing public health camps for various sections of society in urban areas and adopting villages to maintain their public health profile,” said Dr Deoke. IMA will also sponsor general surgeries and medication of rural patients.
Former IMA president Dr YS Deshpande, members of the new team including coordinator Dr Sanjay Deshpande, public relation in-charge Dr Kush Jhunjhunwala, next year’s president-elect Dr Vandana Kate, and others attended the discussion.
