New National Medical Commission Bill, 2017: Cripple the Medical Profession

Dear readers,
Wish you very happy New Year 2018. Thank you for providing your continuous support and encouragement to us as we bring out informative and thought-provoking content for you every month.
Our cover story this month is on much talked new National Medical Commission Bill, 2017. An aim to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and provide for a medical education system which ensures like availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals, adoption of the latest medical research by medical professionals, periodic assessment of medical institutions, and an effective grievance redressal mechanism, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India has already introduced the National Medical Commission(NMC) Bill, 2017 in Lok Sabha on December 29, 2017.
But Indian Medical Association (IMA) has strongly opposed the draft bill that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India with a new body, claiming it will cripple the medical profession. IMA appealed to the Prime Minister to revise the draft bill in the larger interest of the medical profession.
According to doctors, replacing MCI with another body could have made sense only after it was analyzed as to why was MCI not working and what makes one believe that the new body will not be “corrupt”.
It is very interesting that MCI was suspended and replaced by handpicked professionals with integrity for three long years from 2010 to 2013. Was any improvement perceived? None to the eyes of many and that was the reason it was not continued with. Replacing one body with another will NOT serve any purpose unless we do a brainstorming about the underlying reasons as to why even the Government appointed Board could not redeem the image of MCI.
A number of medical colleges are being owned by political masters and they have been having indirect control over MCI and now in the new proposed body they can have more effective control!! Unless this conflict of interest is identified and neutralized no “institution” is likely to be effective.
The story on EXERCISE A WAY TO HEALTHY LONG LIFE is very informative. There are a variety of exercise or physical activities one can choose from, including in a hobby for eg- gardening , enrolling yourself in a sport activity like- badminton, golf etc. or picking up one or the other form of following aerobic exercises- swimming, brisk walk, cycling, skipping rope, hiking, dance etc.
It’s important to remember that we have evolved from nomadic ancestors who spent all their time moving around in search of food and shelter, travelling large distances on a daily basis. Our bodies are designed and have evolved to be regularly active.
Over time people to develop problems if they sit down all day at a desk or in front of the TV and minimize the amount of exercise they do. These are many benefits of regular exercise and maintaining fitness.
And very interesting story on “Why worry about Hepatitis B” explains about the high prices of new medicines are a major barrier to access to treatment in most countries. Treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus infection is life-long for most people. About 2.7 million people of the 36.7 million living with HIV are also infected with HBV. The global prevalence of HBV infection in HIV-infected persons is 7.4%.
Viral hepatitis is a systemic infection affecting predominantly the liver and causing its inflammation. It is caused by infection with one of the five known viruses, namely hepatitis A, B, C, D and E viruses. These viruses vary with respect to their structure, epidemiology, routes of transmission, clinical presentations and other features. Hepatitis B virus is spread by contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person. It is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV.
An estimated 257 million people are living with hepatitis B virus infection. In Asia, especially Southeast Asian countries, 8-15% of the population is affected by Hepatitis B virus infection. Almost one-third of the carriers of this disease develop chronic liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepato- cellular carcinoma.
Hepatitis B is highly endemic in developing regions with large population such as South East Asia, China, sub-Saharan Africa and the Amazon Basin, where at least 8% of the population are HBV chronic carriers. In these areas, 70–95% of the population shows past or present evidence of HBV infection. Most infections occur during infancy or childhood.
There are many more interesting and insightful stories, based on intensive research and analysis. So, happy reading to all of you!

Warm regards,
Amresh K Tiwary,
Editor-in-Chief