New Delhi: Asserting the violence in opposition to medical doctors in India is an rising epidemic in itself, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah stating there must be pressing corrective actions at varied ranges to deliver a halt to this heinous crime.
Stating a stringent regulation and strict enforcement are the necessity of the hour, the IMA mentioned it has been estimated that healthcare staff are 4 instances more likely to be injured and require time away from work attributable to office violence than all different staff mixed.
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“Statistics show that over 75% of doctors across the country have faced at least some form of violence and that 68.33% of the violence was committed by the patient’s attenders /escorts. But these numbers are an underestimate as all cases of violence are not reported. Doctors often acknowledge the situation of the relatives of the patient who are in distress and do not report such cases. Mostly, those cases are reported where the doctor feels a serious threat of life,” the IMA mentioned.
Pointing out that the violence contains verbal abuse, telephonic threats, bodily assault, homicide, and arson, the IMA mentioned the consequences of such violent episodes prolong longer than the expertise itself, the place most medical doctors report back to have confronted insomnia, melancholy, anxiousness, and an lack of ability to see their sufferers with none concern of violence.
The IMA mentioned it has been continuously requesting the federal government to enact a central regulation with IPC part, fixing the accountable officers to research, time-frame for investigation and punishments to the culprits, as early as attainable, with out the choice for bail.
“A bill named Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property Bill, 2019, was drafted by the health ministry in 2019. But the home ministry dismissed the need for a separate law to check violence against a specific profession. At this pandemic, we also demand Hospitals shall be declared as protected Zone and mandatory official observance by police are implemented in all Hospital premises,” the IMA mentioned.
“IMA is looking forward with hope to our Hon’ble Home Minister to restore peace amidst Health Care professionals, by enacting and enforcing a stringent Central act to protect, safeguard and promote optimum environment for Health Care Professionals in our country,” added the nationwide voluntary organisation of physicians in India.
Stating the second wave of Corona pandemic is “playing havoc in our country with overcrowding of hospital beds, apparent scarcity of Oxygen, drugs and burial grounds”, the IMA mentioned the stress stage on the individuals are souring up.
“The Government of India enacted the Hospital Protection Ordinance under the epidemic Disease Act 1897 to prevent violence against doctors, Hospitals and Healthcare workers in the last year with the efforts of the Hon’ble Home Minister. Similarly, the Hospitals and Healthcare Prevention Act were enacted and in practice in 19 states. However, the enforcement of this act is poor because it is not tagged to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” the IMA mentioned.
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“This makes it difficult for victims to file a complaint as well as the police to register their complaint because of the difficulty in recognizing which section to file the case under and hence very often the culprits go scot free. COVID-19 has brought fear, uncertainty and anxiety among people in an unprecedented fashion, serves as an explosive fuel to a raging fire,” the IMA added.
Highlighting that relations are exhibiting their anger and frustration by attacking hospitals and medical doctors because of the mounting pandemic disaster and acute scarcity of both drug, oxygen or mattress when a affected person is dying, the IMA mentioned “this will bring down morale of health care professionals”, including “many lady doctors, junior doctors and staff are humiliated and abused”.
“It is, truly disheartening when one learns about incidents of abuse and ostracism against HCPs, as the problem of violence against doctors in India is increasing steadily and we the Indian doctors are teetering on the brink of a major silent crisis, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which is detrimental for the growth of the society in the coming times,” the IMA mentioned.
