IMA strike: Hospital Services affected in Odisha

KalingaTV News Network

Bhubaneswar: Healthcare services at many government as well as private run hospitals have been adversely affected in Odisha as the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called a 12-hour nationwide strike today to protest a bill seeking to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body.

Services at outpatient departments (OPDs) have been affected at major hospitals including SCB Medical College & Hospital in Cuttack, MKCG Medical College & Hospital in Berhampur and VIMSAR Medical College & Hospital in Burla due to the protest, which has begun at 6 AM this morning and will continue till 6 PM.

However, emergency and critical services in all the government and private run hospitals have remained opened.

Hundreds of medicos in the state capital have boycotted their classes and staged a protest march to Rajbhavan today, demanding withdrawal of clause that permits lateral entry of Ayush to Modern medicine and licentiate exam for MBBS graduates.

The National Medical Commission Bill which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, seeks to replace the MCI and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as Homeopathy and Ayurveda, practise Allopathy after completing a “bridge course”.

The bill is likely to come up for discussion in parliament today.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has asked all central government hospitals to take necessary steps to ensure that health care and emergency services run smoothly in the wake of IMA’s call to suspend routine services for 12 hours today.

The advisory has been issued to AIIMS and other such central government-run hospitals. The Ministry has also sought a compliance report from the hospitals.