Patients and their relatives across the country may have to go through harrowing times for want of medical services on Monday as the Indian Medical Association (IMA), an apex body of thousands of medical practitioners, has decided to go ahead with its nation-wide strike in the wake of the recent assault on doctors in West Bengal.
The announcement came on Sunday, a day after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asked the States to consider enacting specific legislation for protecting doctors and medical professionals from any form of violence.
The IMA, however, demanded a comprehensive Central law in dealing with violence on doctors and healthcare staff, and in hospitals. It said, hospitals should be declared as “safe zones”. Structured safety measures, including a three-layer security, CCTV cameras and restriction of entry of visitors should be well defined and enforced uniformly across the country in all sectors.
Security measures and the determinants leading to violence should also be addressed, the IMA said in a statement. Exemplary punishment for perpetrators of violence should be a component of the Central law and suitable amendments should be brought in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the IMA said.
The IMA said all non-essential services, including outdoor patient department (OPD) services, will be withdrawn for 24 hours from 6 am on Monday to 6 am on Tuesday. Emergency and casualty services will continue to function, it said.
The medical body had launched a four-day nationwide protest from Friday and wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding enactment of a Central law to check violence against healthcare workers. On Saturday, Vardhan, along with a letter to all Chief Ministers, also attached a copy of the Draft Act provided by the IMA -- the Protection of Medical Service Persons and Medical Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss of Property) Act, 2017.
The situation in West Bengal is still grave and fear of violence is present in all medical colleges and major hospitals, the IMA claimed. The violence following the attack on resident doctor Paribaha Mukherjee in West Bengal has been allowed to deteriorate into a major law and order situation, the medical body alleged.
“The crisis should be resolved to the satisfaction of the residents and the medical professionals of West Bengal. IMA proclaims solidarity with the resident doctors of West Bengal and appeals to the Government of West Bengal to address and resolve the issue on war footing,” the statement said.