Doctors cannot be forced to prescribe poor quality drugs

Doctors cannot be forced to prescribe poor quality drugs

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Health

Context:

• Following the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) latest regulation asking doctors to prescribe generic drugs, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on August 14 demanded urgent intervention from the government stating that they should not be forced to do the work of chemists, and prescribe “poor quality drugs” to patients.

Details:

• The biggest impediment to generic drugs is the uncertainty about its quality.
• The quality control in the nation being very weak, there’s practically no guarantee of the quality of drugs, and prescribing drugs without assured quality would be detrimental to patient health.
• Less than 0.1% of the drugs manufactured in India are tested for quality.

National Medical Commission (NMC):

• The NMC has been constituted by an act of Parliament known as National Medical Commission Act, 2019 which came into force on 25.9.2020 by gazette notification dated 24.9.2020.
• The Board of Governors in supersession of Medical Council of India constituted under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 stands dissolved thereafter.

Mission and Vision:

• The Aim of the National Medical Commission are to:

1. improve access to quality and affordable medical education,
2. (ensure availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals in all parts of the country;
3. promote equitable and universal healthcare that encourages community health perspective and makes services of medical professionals accessible to all the citizens;
4. encourages medical professionals to adopt latest medical research in their work and to contribute to research;
5. objectively assess medical institutions  periodically in a transparent manner; (vi) maintain a medical register for India;
6. enforce high ethical standards in all aspects of medical services;
7. have an effective grievance redressal mechanism.

Indian Medical Association (IMA):

• IMA is the largest represented organization of doctors of the modern system of medicine in India which looks after the interests of doctors as well as the wellbeing of the community at large.
• It has a membership of 3.5 lakh doctors spread over in 28 State Branches, 5 Union territorial Branches and 1702 local branches in almost all the districts of India.
• In the pre-independence era there were Associations of doctors at few places in India. But in one of the doctors’ conferences, it was discussed that all these Associations of all these doctors should continue functioning under one Association.
• In 1928, the name Indian Medical Association was coined.
• Indian Medical Association, in the year 1946 helped in organization of the World body of medical Associations across the globe, namely, World Medical Association (WMA) and thus became its Founder member.
  • As a Member organization of WMA, it has been and continues to play an important role in its deliberations.
• IMA hosted the III World Conference on Medical Education under the joint auspices of WMA and IMA in New Delhi in 1966 and in 2009 hosted WMA General Assembly and Dr. Ketan Desai was installed as WMA President in 2015.
• IMA has got the opportunity to lead CMMAO on three occasions. IMA will lead CMAAO as its President in 2019.
• Vision: IMA is a democratic forum working to maintain dignity, honour and social security of the medical fraternity in the country. It strives to provide quality healthcare to each and every citizen of India. IMA is committed to preserve the autonomy of the profession.

Objectives:

• To promote and advance medical and allied sciences in all their different branches and to promote the improvement of public health and medical education in India
• To maintain the honour and dignity and to uphold the interest of the medical profession and to promote co-operation amongst the members thereof;
• To work for the abolition of compartmentalism in medical education, medical services and registration in the country and this to achieve equality among all members of the profession.