NEW DELHI: A national network of doctors committed to promoting rational and ethical healthcare on Friday criticised the bill drafted by the NITI Aayog and its report on restructuring regulation of Medical Education and the medical profession, saying it was merely championing "accelerated privatisation and commercialisation of medical education".

Protection of patients and the need for a strong clampdown on unethical practices is clearly not a priority in the report and the bill, said the Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare (ADEH). They argued that the bill legitimised and legalised profiteering in medical education by proposing that for-profit entities, including businesses and corporations, would be allowed to open and run medical colleges.

"Until now, only not-for-profit entities were allowed to run medical colleges, a provision which was often flouted, but instead of clamping down on the misuse, the NITI Aayog is arguing for abandoning the principle itself.

This is like saying that since controlling of crime is difficult, we should now legalise crime," said a statement issued by the alliance.

The parliamentary standing committee on health and the Supreme Court had focused on the need to arrest widespread corruption in private medical education. Yet, the report and the draft bill is about dilution of the regulatory approach to medical education, said the statement.

The draft bill says that even colleges with grossly unsatisfactory standards would not be promptly closed down by suggesting that "deviation from standards may not lead to derecognition," the doctors pointed out. "Rather such colleges may just get a lower 'rating' and would continue merrily with sub-standard medical education," pointed out the alliance.


The doctors also flayed the proposal of letting district hospitals be used by private players to run medical colleges saying it would amount to "handing over key public health resources to business interests". Accepting that the track record of elected representatives in the MCI and state councils was problematic, the alliance said there was a need to reform the election process. "The solution to bad democracy is not to eliminate democracy, but to work for genuine democracy," it added. They suggested a regulatory body with roughly equivalent representation from three constituencies: democratically elected representatives of doctors; civil representatives, legal and public health experts; and nominated officials. "There is no mention of giving representation in the NMC to civil society networks working on health rights or patients' rights or women's organisations.


"There is only a generic mention that a total of five part-time members of the commission may be drawn from different backgrounds," said the statement.


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