Why in News ?
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has replaced the Medical Council of India (BoG-MCI). It aimed at bringing in reforms in medical education.
Why Medical Council of Inida Dissolved ?
- MCI is an elected body where its members are elected by medical practitioners themselves, i.e., the regulator is elected by the regulated.
- Separating the regulation of medical education and medical practice due to to its
- Regulatory role
- Composition
- Allegations of corruption
- Lack of accountability
- Separating the regulation of medical education and medical practice due to to its
- National Medical Commission Bill introduced to dissolve MCI in 2019.
National Medical Commission
- National Medical Commission (NMC) as an umbrella regulatory body with certain other bodies under it.
- Functions of the NMC include
- Laying down policies for regulating medical institutions and medical professionals
- Assessing the requirements of human resources and infrastructure in healthcare
- Ensuring compliance by the State Medical Councils with the regulations made under the Bill
- Framing guidelines for determination of fee for up to 50% of the seats in the private medical institutions.
- The NMC will have four separate autonomous boards
- Under-graduate medical education : Responsible for formulating standards, curriculum, guidelines for medical education.
- Post-graduate medical education : Responsibility same as above.
- Medical assessment and Rating : power to levy monetary penalties on institutions which fail to maintain the minimum standards.
- Ethics and medical registration : Maintain a National Register of all the licensed medical practitioners.
- Members will be nominated consist of 25 members including
- Director Generals of the Directorate General of Health Services and the Indian Council of Medical Research
- Director of any of the AIIMS
- Five members (part-time) to be elected by the registered medical practitioners
- Six members appointed on rotational basis from amongst the nominees of the states in the Medical Advisory Council.
- Among 25 at least 15 are medical practitioners
- States will establish their respective State Medical Councils and will have a role similar to the NMC, at the state level.
How the new commission address various issues ?
- State Medical Council deals with complaints relating to professional or ethical misconduct against a registered medical practitioner.
- Medical practitioner is aggrieved of a decision of the State Medical Council he can appeal to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board.
- The doctor to population ratio in India was 1:1655 compared to the World Health Organisation standard of 1:1000.
- The Bill provides for the NMC to grant limited license to certain mid-level practitioners called community health providers, connected with the modern medical profession to practice medicine.
- These practitioners may only prescribe medicine under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner.
Source : The Hindu
Topic
GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
Current Affairs Compilation : 26 September 2020