The honour a doctor gets in our society is more what a corporate head receives but nowadays the warmth of relationship between doctor and patient has declined which needs serious introspection by the doctors. The view was expressed by Union Minister of State for Environment, forest and culture Dr Mahesh Sharma while addressing a symposium organised by the Dehradun unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) here on Sunday. The Union Minister said that he is attending the programme as a doctor and member of IMA family. Exhorting the doctors, he said that the doctors should take pride in the profession and think what they can give to the society. Terming the concerns raised by the IMA on the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) as genuine, Dr Sharma said that the Government never takes unilateral decision that is why the bill has been sent to standing committee of parliament. Giving examples of demonetization and GST, he said that the Union Government is always ready to incorporate suggestions. On Clinical establishment act Dr Sharma said that the Government is trying to solve the problems raised by the medical fraternity.
The Union Minister said that the medical services in remote and mountainous areas of Uttarakhand are in a bad shape and things are not much different in other states. He said that even in metros there is a dearth of specialist doctors. Dr Sharma said that if the present number of 480 medical colleges in the country is doubled then also the problem of shortage of doctors would take another 20 years to overcome. The Minister compared the demonetisation decision of the Government to that of a bitter pill which will help the economy. And this bitter pill will be highly beneficial for common people in the days to come and it is showing its desired results in one way or the other.
In her address, the Director General (DG) health services Dr Archana Srivastava said that in last 17 years the State has not been successful in setting up requisite infrastructure in remote areas due to which doctors appointed there face problems.
She accepted that the status of health services in mountainous areas of U’khand is got good and said that the private partnership can help in improving things. The DG sought the help of IMA in providing health services in all parts of the state.
The President of Dehradun chapter of IMA, Dr Geeta Khanna demanded that the state government should bring in amendments in the Clinical Establishment Act. She suggested that the Uttarakhand government should follow the example of Haryana which has exempted hospitals with less than 50 beds from the provisions of the act. Dr Khanna also expressed reservations against many provisions of the proposed NMC.