ANSWER—The MCI has been spreading false scare in order to push up its case
for the BRHC course conceived by the health Minister. The facts are as follows:
for the BRHC course conceived by the health Minister. The facts are as follows:
1—The current MCI chief, Dr. sarin has stated as follows:
“We assessed that the country needs about seven lakh doctors. Even if we increase our current intake from current 35,000 to 50,000 it will be 2031 when we would be able to meet the target. We can’t wait that long”.
---http://edunews.successcds.net/union-govt-cancels-the-2011-national-common-medical-entrance-test-1363.html#more-363
2—Seven lakh doctors for 1.25 billion population means 1 doctor per 1714 population, while the availability of doctors in India in July 2005 as per MCI data, revealed by the thenminister of state for health and family welfare, Panabaka Lakshmi, was 1:781 (1:1,722 if only allopathic doctors were considered).
3—It is obvious that Dr. Sarin has goofed up his figures. It is also obvious that he has a bias against non-allopathic systems of medicine for which the MOH has a separate department and which are fully legal and constitutional and for which a huge amount of tax payers’ money is spent. The MCI has no right to dismiss or wish away the ISM.
4—CONCLUSION—There is no shortage of doctors in India. It is well known to health specialists that a nation’s health depends not so much on the doctor: population ratio as upon the doctor: nurse ratio and the improvement of infrastructure (bed: population ratio; transport; communication; alleviation of hunger; increase in health budget; provision of clean water and sanitation etc.). The remedy lies in giving incentives to doctors to work in rural areas by providing proper living and working conditions for doctors in such areas and providing them adequate opportunities for career development. An embargo should be put on opening medical colleges or higher institutes in urban areas. Even the existing medical colleges in urban areas can be shifted to rural areas. This would raise lot of revenue for the government. Land would be available cheap or free in rural areas and the urban land thus vacated can be sold at a premium. The staff can be shifted en masse because they are under an obligation to work anywhere. Building new hospitals in rural areas will be a sure way of rural development. Existing hospitals attached to medical colleges can be sold to private corporate sector at high premium, just like off-loading the Nav Ratna industries. All this is eminently practicable. Dr. Sarin and his team, who are all eminent doctors, certainly know the basics of health. They are doing a disservice to the profession and the country by spreading false information in order to tout the political and individual whims of the health minister. The IMA ought to strongly protest against this to the PM, the HM and the MCI, asking for immediate withdrawal of the wrong and motivated statement of the MCI chief.
----(Ex)Prof. M C Gupta
MD (Medicine), LL.M.
Fellow: National Foundation of Clinical Forensic Medicine
Ex-Professor and Dean
Practicing advocate & Medico-legal Consultant
www.writing.com/authors/mcgupta44 7 January 2011
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