IMA to flag off the Dilli Chalo movement

IMA to flag off the Dilli Chalo movement

·         Doctors unified in their stand against the many issues faced by the medical profession

·         This huge movement is the need of the hour to urge the government to take strong action

New Delhi, 02 June 2017: In what will probably be the largest movement against the atrocities faced by the medical profession, the IMA will be organizing the Dilli Chalo movement on 6th June 2017 and has urged the entire medical fraternity to join in large numbers. The Association has already undertaken an intensive month-long campaign to raise awareness on and bring to light the issues faced by the medical profession today. IMA is a unified voice and the collective consciousness of the medical profession in the country.

The medical profession is facing one of the toughest times today. Repeated pleas and appeals by the medical fraternity have not materialized into anything except reassurances time and again, to the extent that states are now coming out with draconian acts like the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act. It is after having decided that enough is enough that the IMA has given this clarion call, Dilli Chalo.

Speaking about this, Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, National President Indian Medical Association (IMA) and President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Dr RN Tandon – Honorary Secretary General IMA in a joint statement, said, "This is probably one of the toughest phases in the history of medicine. Doctors around the country are agitated and not at mental peace. This is not in the interest of the society. The Protest March will start at 8:00 AM from Rajghat and reach the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium by 11:00 AM. Over 50,000 doctors from all over India will join the movement and a large number will gather in Delhi at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. Doctors from over 50 cities including all the 30 states will be participating in the deliberations at the stadium and the remaining will be connected digitally over a live webcast."

The last few months have seen several other initiatives by the IMA on this front such as STOP NMC Sathyagraha, two National Protest Days against violence on doctors, NO to NEXT strike in medical colleges, and the National Black Day against West Bengal Clinical Establishments Act. Other than this, 3 action committee meetings and 2 meetings of FOMA were also conducted.

Adding further, Dr Vijay Malhotra, President, DMA and Dr Satish Tyagi, Secretary General, DMA, in a joint statement, said, "This is a peaceful Satyagraha and not a strike. All doctors will gather at Rajghat and start with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi. Doctors (senior and junior), students, and the entire medical fraternity will participate in the deliberations. There will be three tableaus moving in and around Delhi to create awareness on these issues. The IMA is also initiating a signature campaign on the issues at hand on social media and has urged all doctors to join and collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to demand justice from the government."

The Dilli Chalo movement aims to address the following demands by the medical fraternity.

·         Criminal prosecution of medical negligence and clerical errors

·         Stringent central act against violence on doctors

·         Capping the compensation in CPA on doctors

·         Professional autonomy in treatment and prescriptions

·         Amendments in PC PNDT, Central CEA, West Bengal CEA Acts

·         No unscientific mixing of systems of medicine

·         Empower MBBS graduates

·         One drug - One company - One price

·         Implement inter-ministerial committee recommendations in six weeks

·         Single window accountability

·         Single window registration of doctors and medical establishments

·         No to NMC: Amend IMC act to maintain professional autonomy

·         Uniform final MBBS exam instead of ‘NEXT’

·         Uniform service conditions for service doctors & faculty

·         Same work - Same pay - Pay parity - No to adhocism

·         Fair conduction of NEET exam

·         IMA member in every government health committee

·         Central anti-quackery law

·         Reimbursement of emergency services provided by private sector

·         25000 family medicine PG seats

·         Aided hospitals and retainer ship in general practice

·         Health budget of 5 % of GDP for universal health coverage

Amend the IMC Act to ensure professional autonomy, says IMA

Amend the IMC Act to ensure professional autonomy, says IMA

Calls the National Medical Commission Act as undemocratic

New Delhi, 01 June 2017: Demanding professional autonomy for doctors, the IMA raised another boiling issue leading up to the nationwide Dilli Chalo movement that it is going to undertake on the 6th of June 2017. Dubbing the move to introduce NMA (National Medical Commission Act) as undemocratic, the IMA intensified its month-long campaign to highlight the problems faced by the medical fraternity today.

Demanding the protection of professional autonomy, the IMA feels that there is a need to amend the present IMC Act as opposed to the introduction of the NMA. The WMA (World Medical Association) has also supported the IMA on their stand.

Speaking about this, Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, National President Indian Medical Association (IMA) and President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and Dr RN Tandon – Honorary Secretary General IMA in a joint statement, said, "Doctors are professionals and professional autonomy is their right.  The autonomy of the medical profession is under threat throughout the world and what is happening in India can happen elsewhere too. It is imperative that physicians everywhere speak out against marginalization of the medical profession and in support of professional autonomy, as this is a prerequisite for high-quality patient care as well. The new Commission proposed by the government effectively means that non-doctors handpicked by the government will regulate the medical profession without any autonomy. This is unacceptable."

Currently, the MCI has 130 members, having a representative character with two-thirds elected and one-third nominated professional members representing the entire spectrum of professional stakeholders.

Adding further, Dr Aggarwal, said, "The proposed National Medical Commission will have 19 handpicked members nominated by the government. It will be a 100% nominated Commission with no representative character, mostly comprising non-doctors without any autonomy. This is not acceptable."

The Dilli Chalo march will be joined by over a lakh doctors in the country, both digitally and physically, and followed by deliberations on issues ailing the medical profession, one of them being the drug pricing policy. The IMA is also initiating a signature campaign on the issues at hand on social media and has urged all doctors to join and collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to demand justice from the government.

Air pollution can lead to preterm birth in asthmatic mothers

Air pollution can lead to preterm birth in asthmatic mothers

With the soaring pollution levels in the Capital, IMA urges citizens to do their bit to reduce air pollution

New Delhi, March 3, 2016: The ill effects of air pollution on respiratory health are well-known. Now, a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that when pregnant women with asthma are exposed to high levels of certain traffic-related air pollutants, they face a greater risk of preterm birth.

The increased risk is associated with both ongoing and short-term exposure to nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide particularly when women were exposed to those pollutants just before conception and in early pregnancy.

An increase of 30 parts per billion in nitrogen oxide exposure in the three months prior to pregnancy increased preterm birth risk by nearly 30 percent for women with asthma, compared to 8 percent for women without asthma. Greater carbon monoxide exposure during the same period raised preterm birth risk by 12 percent for asthmatic women, but had no effect on preterm birth risk for non-asthmatics. The last six weeks of pregnancy was another critical window for women with asthma. Exposure to high levels of particulate matter — very small particles of substances like acids, metals, and dust in the air — also was associated with higher preterm birth risk.

The study was published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Sharing details, Dr SS Agarwal, National President IMA & Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal, President HCFI and Honorary Secretary General IMA said, “People with asthma who are concerned about exposures to air pollution may want to limit their outdoor activity during periods when the air quality is forecast to be unhealthy for sensitive groups. It is the responsibility of each and every citizen to work towards the reduction of environmental pollution given its serious effects on one’s overall health and well being. If each one of us takes simple environmental friendly steps such as carpooling, discouraging the use of fire-crackers, planting more trees around our houses, the pollution levels can be brought down and several diseases prevented.”

Other Harmful Effects of Air Pollution:

1.      Air pollution affects respiratory system causing breathing difficulties and diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

2.      Air Pollution affects the central nervous system causing carbon monoxide poisoning. CO has more affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen and thus forms a stable compound carboxy haemoglobin (COHb), which is poisonous and causes suffocation and death.

3.      Air pollution causes depletion of ozone layer due to which ultraviolet radiations can reach the earth and cause skin cancer, damage to eyes and immune system.

4.      It causes acid rain, which damages crop plants, trees, buildings, monuments, statues and metal structures and also makes the soil acidic.

5.      It causes greenhouse effect or global warming which leads to excessive heating of earth's atmosphere, further leading to weather variability and rise in sea level. The increased temperature may cause melting of ice caps and glaciers, resulting in floods.

6.      Air pollution from certain metals, pesticides and fungicides causes serious ailments.

·         Lead pollution causes anemia, brain damage, convulsions and death.

·         Certain metals cause problem in kidney, liver, circulatory system and nervous system.

·         Fungicides cause nerve damage and death.

·         Pesticides like DDT (Dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane) which are toxic enter into our food chain and gets accumulated in the body causing kidney disorders and problems of brain and circulatory system.

Pharma companies can no longer gift freebies to Indian doctors

Excerpts from a report by Rupali Mukherjee in TOI news dated Dec 23.

1. Doling out freebies, cruise tickets, paid vacations and sponsorship to educational conferences and seminars for doctors by pharmaceutical companies has been banned from January.

2. The government has woken up belatedly to curb unethical marketing practices of pharma companies by spelling out a uniform code of conduct for the industry. The code will be voluntary to start with, and kicks in from January 1. It will be reviewed after six months; if not implemented "effectively", the government will "consider"' making it mandatory, sources told TOI.

3. At present, the pharma industry follows a "self-regulatory'' code that curbs unethical sales promotion and marketing expenses, bans personal gifts, and all-expenses paid junkets for doctors and their families, but there have been several instances where companies have violated the code, industry experts say. They say the code exists only on paper as companies try to influence prescriptions through several ways.

4. This is the first time in years that the code has been finalized by the government, as earlier attempts to do so got mired in bureaucratic red tape.

5. Industry experts say that the government's Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices has been modelled on the Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines for doctors and healthcare professionals, which were further tightened in 2012.

6. The code clarifies the relationship with healthcare professionals. Regarding gifts, it says "no gifts, pecuniary advantages, or benefits in kind may be supplied, offered or promised to persons qualified to prescribe or supply drugs, by a pharma company, or any of it agents including retailers, distributors or wholesalers".

7. It says "in any seminar, conference or meeting organized by a pharma company for promoting a drug or disseminating information, if a medical practitioner participates as a delegate, it will be on his/her own cost."

8. It further says that gifts for the personal benefit of healthcare professionals and family members (both immediate and extended) such as tickets to entertainment events are also not to be offered or provided by pharma companies, nor cash or monetary grants for individual purposes. Hospitality should also not be extended to any doctor or their family members.

9. The industry associations have to upload the Uniform Code on their websites and will be responsible for informing its members, and the government in case of violations.

10. The code also adds that "where there is any item missing, the code of MCI as per the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation, 2002 as amended from time to time, will prevail''.


eMedinewS Comments: Dr K K Aggarwal

• MCI code of ethics exists for doctors. Any violation can only be challenged in High Court.

• Pharma companies until now were affected for any violation in the Income Tax exemptions.  Now pharma companies will also be governed by a similar ( like MCI) code of conduct.

• Unless both pharma and doctors group are covered in their respective code of conduct the problem will not be over. So far the MCI code did not cover pharma companies violating MCI regulations'

• It is same like, if doctors violate any MCI code they are punished under violation of MCI ethics regulations but same violations if done by medical establishments they are not punished. The need of the hour is to have uniform code of conduct for medical establishments' also.

• Another answer is to bring medical establishments and pharma companies also under the preview of MCI ethics regulations.

Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal Receives Orator of the Year 2014 Award by St Mathew's School

Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal Receives Orator of the Year 2014 Award by St Mathew's School

New Delhi, December 20, 2014: Recognizing outstanding contribution in the field of social work St. Mathew’s Senior Secondary School New Delhi honored Dr. K K Aggarwal with the Orator of the year Award 2014 in New Delhi on its Foundation Day.

An eminent cardiologist, President of Heart Care Foundation of India and the Senior National Vice President Indian Medical Association, Dr Aggarwal has also worked extensively towards helping the lower sections of the society.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr Aggarwal, Sr. National Vice President of the Indian Medical Association and the President of the Heart Care Foundation of India said, “I am honored to receive such a prestigious award from the St. Mathew’s Sr. Sec. School. Every individual has a right to live a healthy life and keeping this mind we started the Heart Care Foundation of India and till date have continued to help many patients live a healthy and normal life. The trust recognized my efforts towards the society and it gives me immense happiness and encouragement to keep doing the same throughout life.”

Dr Aggarwal is the recipient of three National Awards, namely the Padma Shri for brilliance in medicine, Dr. BC Roy award for excellence in socio-medical awareness and DST National Award for Outstanding Efforts in Science & Technology Communication. DR Aggarwal is also Limca Book of Record holder in CPR 10.

Indian Medical Tourism Incomplete without Yoga Department in every Hospital

Recently in one of the interaction the Indian Tourism Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma said that India is going to be the hub of medical tourism because of its hospitality and culture.

It is correct but for that a slight paradigm shift is required in the way we practice medicine in the country. 

Most western patients come to India to take advantage of Yoga and Ayurveda in addition to the western medicine.

Only for a lower cost we cannot attract medical tourists for long as sooner or later the China will over power us in future for medical treatments.

Our Prime Minister has convinced the world to have an international Yoga day. But unfortunately we do not have a yoga department in every government or a private medical institution.

Let India be the first country to have a yoga and an Ayurveda department in every hospital in addition to the western medicine.

The time is to promote traditional Yoga and Ayurveda. Unfortunately as they are not getting an uplifment they are ending up in cross pathy which is not on the interest of both their profession as well as the community.

Recently a review of studies examining the benefits of yoga suggests that Yoga practice provides significant benefits on cardiovascular risk factors, including LDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure.

Those who practiced asana-based yoga reduced their LDL-cholesterol levels by 12.1 mg/dL and systolic blood pressure by 5.2 mm Hg and increased their HDL-cholesterol levels by 3.2 mg/dL. 

In addition, the yoga practitioners also saw significant reductions in body-mass index, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and heart rate. Overall, the yogis lost 2.35 kg compared with non exercisers.

Individuals who cannot or prefer not to perform traditional aerobic exercise might still achieve similar benefits in cardiovascular-disease risk reduction by Yoga.
The review, which is published December 15, 2014 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, included 32 randomized, controlled trials involving 2768 participants.

[The author Dr K K Aggarwal is Senior National Vice President Indian Medical Association and President Heart Care Foundation of India]

Pharmacists Charged With Murder in Fungal Meningitis Outbreak in US

Two pharmacists at the notorious New England Compounding Center have been charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of 25 individuals who received non-sterile steroid pain injections in 2012 and 2013, according to a criminal indictment unsealed today in a federal district court in Boston, USA. The pain medicine preservative-free methyl-prednisolone acetate harbored fungal meningitis.

The two pharmacists, knew they were producing their medications in an unsafe manner and in unsanitary conditions.

The second-degree murder charges are framed as racketeering acts. Prosecutors generally do not need to prove that someone charged with second-degree murder specifically intended to kill someone, only that he or she acted with extreme indifference to human life. If convicted they could be sentenced to life in prison.

The charge framed are

• using expired and expiring ingredients to compound the steroid injections and falsifying expiration dates on documents,
• autoclaving drugs for less than the 20 minutes needed for sterilization,
• failing to properly test drugs for sterility,
• failing to recall tainted drugs when microbial growth was later detected,
• falsifying drug labels to conceal how expired or untested drug solution lots were mixed with other lots, and
• failing to properly clean and disinfect the "clean rooms" where the steroid injections were manufactured. Cleaning logs were falsified to state otherwise, said prosecutors.

IMA Comments: A similar charges should be framed amongst all in India who end up with substandard spurious drugs. The recent Chattisgarh sterilization case is one such example.

In India the person can be and should be booked under 304A of IPC: "Causing death by negligence.—Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both".