Days after the parliamentary committee sought restructuring of composition of the Medical Council of India (MCI), stating its composition as “opaque” and “biased” against the larger public health goal
Days after the parliamentary committee sought restructuring of composition of the Medical Council of India (MCI), stating its composition as “opaque” and “biased” against the larger public health goals, a group of senior medical practitioners have endorsed the recommendation by welcoming Indian parliamentary report calling for a radical reform of the MCI in the British Medical Journal editorial.
Dr Sanjay Nagral, a consultant surgeon at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai, and colleagues say the recent standing committee report to the Parliament “lays bare the Medical Council of India’s failure to oversee quality and integrity in health services in the country.”
In 2014, the BMJ launched a campaign against corruption that sparked global interest in the rampant practices of kickbacks for referrals, revenue targets in corporate hospitals, and capitation fees in private medical colleges in India.
“For those of us in the medical profession in India who have been despairing of the state of affairs, this report is a long awaited panacea,” Dr Samiran Nundy, dean, Ganga Ram Institute for Post-graduate Medical Education and Research, writes.
Lauding the committee for its “thorough analysis” of the state of healthcare in the country, paving the way for radical reform, Dr Anita Jain, BMJ research editor and colleagues said that the committee “must be lauded for its thorough analysis of the state of healthcare in the country and paving the way for radical reform.” But they warn that it overlooks, “the complicity of ruling politicians, many of whom own private medical colleges.”
According to experts, for the citizens of India who are strained by the “dual burden of expensive and unethical healthcare”, the report could be a “powerful tool” in their struggle to make the healthcare system deliver their needs.
They believe that the ruling party “will have to muster strong political support to act on the committee’s recommendations as this will inevitably involve hurting well entrenched and powerful interests.” “Sustained pressure from the medical community, activists, civil society organisations, and the media is needed to avoid the report remaining “under consideration” by the health ministry forever,” it said.
