TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Goa Medical Council (GMC) has requested State government not to consider the federal health ministry directive allowing practitioners of Indian System of Medicine (ISM) to register with the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
In a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and the State health secretary, GMC president Shekhar Salkar has said that the medication like homeopathy and ayurveda with allopathy should be reviewed.
The letter was in response to a communication from Health and Family Welfare Ministry joint secretary Vishwas Mehta asking all state governments to amend state health laws to ensure that ISM practitioners were allowed to enroll with medical councils in all states.
The central ministry official said the move could also help address the shortage of medical practitioners in rural areas.
“Both the IMA and the GMC have strongly opposed this move and request State government not to initiate any action along these lines as it is detrimental to the interests of healthcare in Goa, and completely irrational,” Dr Salkar said in the letter.
GMC has also urged government to pass and implement “Nursing Homes Regulation Bill” and the “Prevention of violence against health care professionals and health care establishments”, which have been pending since years.
It is worth mentioning that a “Nursing Homes Regulation Bill” was passed by the state assembly in 1986; rules were never framed, and the matter has been pending in one form or another ever since, Dr Salkar said.
The second bill was the “Prevention of violence against health care professionals and health care establishments”, the law which serves as a deterrent against attacks on health care workers and institutions.
