IMA calls for strike on Dec 11; Non-essential medical services to remain shut

The Indian Medical Association on Tuesday, December 8, announced a protest against government’s notification which authorises post-graduate practitioners in specified streams of Ayurveda to train and perform general surgical procedures.

As a part of the nationwide protest, the doctors will withdraw all non-essential and non-COVID services on December 11 from 6 am to 6 pm. All emergency services including casualty, emergency room, critical care, ICUs, COVID care, emergency surgeries and labor room will continue to function.

However, OPD services will not be available and elective surgeries will not be posted, said the doctors’ body.

Meanwhile, in order to express their disagreement to the notification, over 45,000 IMA members from 219 branches in Maharashtra staged demonstrations on December 8 against what they have termed as ‘mixopathy’.

Over 5,000 MBBS students from 36 medical colleges and 10,000 postgraduate students and junior doctors participated in the demonstration in the state. The agitation was supported by 34 specialist organisations comprising eye specialists, nose and throat surgeons, gastrointestinal surgeons, the state physicians’ association, paediatricians and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India.

Moreover, modern medicine doctors from across India also held a peaceful and silent protest in over 10,000 public spots. Keeping COVID-19 protocols in mind, the protest will be conducted in small groups of 20 people between 12 noon to 2 pm on December 8. The doctors from medical colleges, general practitioners, specialists, government services, resident doctors and medical students will take part in the demonstrations.

Stating that the notification by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) to train and allow the legal practice of surgeries by Ayurveda practitioners and the formation of four committees by NITI Aayog for the integration of all systems of medicine will only lead to mixopathy, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an immediate withdrawal of both.