Hyderabad: The World Medical Association has written to the parliamentary standing committee for health and family welfare that it must not replace the Medical Council of India with another body with the National Medical Commission Bill as there is no evidence to show that regulation is done better by the government.
The Indian Medical Association is a part of WMA stated that they are regulating the medical affairs better than the government.
The argument put forth by WMA is that professional self-governance facilitates professional autonomy and clinical independence.
A shift from a democratically-elected, autonomously-governed body to a politically-established and government-directed body would be counterproductive for patients and for furthering the development of medical profession in India.
The WMA leaders warned that India already suffers from brain drain, especially of physicians to other countries.
Taking away a part of their professional identity will increase dissatisfaction and frustration, and probably lead to an even higher attrition rate.
Dr K.K. Aggarwal, former president of IMA, said, “The MCI was restored in 2013. There is no quantifiable evidence which states that the body was corrupt. There have only been a series of allegations. The cases have not been proved and it has shown that it is only to malign doctors. Regulation is required but not by bringing a draconian Act which will replace the professional autonomy of doctors.”
Dr Aggarwal said that when a full-time administrator was appointed by the Delhi High Court to supervise MCI functioning for a year, there was not a single event pertaining to the functioning of MCI.
