Hyderabad: Medical association representatives who met with Telangana’s health minister T Harish Rao on Tuesday at Pragathi Bhavan said that they were given the assurance that the state will create “anti-quackery committees” within a month.
The doctors who practised modern medicine felt that the health minister was endorsing “quackery” with his remarks. Government hospitals have seen demonstrations throughout the past two days.
Those who practise modern medicine without the necessary credentials are known as quacks. Despite lacking current medical training, they continue to recommend allopathic drugs.
The Telangana Doctors Forum, the Indian Medical Association, the Junior Doctors Association, and the Senior Resident Doctors Association met with the minister on Tuesday.
Rao told them that within a month, district-level anti-quackery committees will be established.
These committees will prosecute quacks in accordance with the National Medical Council Act and the Telangana Medical Practitioners Registration Act.
The minister warned that those who support quackery by going to these people would also be penalised.
Telangana Junior Doctors Associations (TJUDA) protested by wearing black batches and raising slogans against Telangana health minister T Harish Rao’s alleged remarks supporting registered medical practitioners (RMP) in various sections of the city.
The protest was led by the Telangana Junior Doctor Association (TJUDA) at the RIMS Adilabad, Gandhi Warangal, Nizamabad, and Osmania General Hospital.
The protest occurred after a video allegedly of health minister Rao speaking on a phone to a group of RMPs and paramedics last week surfaced. The minister is heard in the film indicating that RMPs can write prescriptions for medications.
According to the one of protestors who spoke to Siasat.com said “It was decided to wear black badges as a sign of disagreement in all medical institutions, private and public clinics, and hospitals after a meeting with the representatives of the IMA, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA), Senior Resident Doctors Association, Telangana Doctors Federation, and Telangana Employees Association-Doctors Forum.”
According to the President of Osmania Junior Doctors’ Association, Srikanth Sativada, ” We all are very disappointed after we got to know that Harish Rao supporting unlicensed medical practitioners. We will not accept the decision made by the government.”
The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association posted a video, reportedly of Rao, speaking to the RMPs and Paramedical Medical Practitioners (PMPs) at a meeting that was held following the Director of Public Health’s inspection campaign last week, on its Twitter account on Saturday.
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