If a medical professional is caught indulging in sex determination, he would be boycotted by his fraternity, according to the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
This is one of the several reforms that IMA plans to introduce for the upcoming year. “We will not only cancel the IMA membership, but such violators will also be boycotted by all other doctors,” Dr K K Aggarwal, president, IMA told DH on Wednesday. The association is also coming up with a new set of policies for minimising alcohol consumption, tobacco control, caution on selfies and encourage carpooling.
Two new campaigns, ‘Bar Bar Pucho’ and ‘Poochna Mat Bhoolo’ will also be introduced in the upcoming year.
The Bar Bar Pucho campaign aims to lift the stigma attached to mental disorders where doctors and relatives of a patient are prompted to ask the patient “If he is doing good” and check on his mental wellbeing.
“At any given time, over 10% of society is suffering from mental disorders. With only 2,600 psychiatrists in the country, we need to take mental health to the primary level. The campaign will remind every doctor to ask a patient at every visit about mood, depression, alcohol use, smoking habits, drug abuse, and sexual needs and preferences,” he said.
‘Poochna Mat Bhoolo’ campaign is aimed at creating awareness about organ donation. Dr Aggarwal said under this, doctors from across the country would be educated on counselling members of the deceased person’s family for organ donation.
“This is being done with a specific intention to create awareness about cadaver organ donation,” he added.
The campaigns “Jaroorat Bhi Hai Kya” and “Will it benefit”, according to IMA, will help reduce the cost of treatment, number of litigations and health care associated drug-resistant infections. The ‘3A’ campaign - Avoid Antibiotic Abuse supported by IMA, will be launched from Bihar, which tops antibiotics consumers list in the country.
IMA said it would contribute its mite for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India Campaign. One such initiative is to go paperless. All communications would go digital from 2017. The president would be available for interaction on social media platforms as well.
In view of the high maternal and infant mortalities in the country, Dr Aggarwal said mass awareness programmes aimed at health and social issues, focussing predominantly on maternal, paediatric and mental health, are in the pipeline.
Key initiatives