The Indian Medical Association called for a countrywide protest against the recent episodes of assault on the healthcare professionals. Thousands of doctors across the country joined the nationwide protest. They demanded a central law to prevent these incidents. A group of doctors from the IMA and Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) protested with placards at the AIIMS main gate in Delhi.

In Hyderabad, IMA doctors and staff protested at its office. In Kerala too, doctors protested by holding banners, placards, and raised slogans of ‘Save the Survivors’.

Approximately, 3.5 lakh doctors of the IMA had participated in the nationwide protest. While medical professionals are working day and night during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, incidents of doctors being assaulted by relatives following the death of their patients are being reported from different parts of the country. A recent case took place in Assam, wherein the doctor deployed on COVID-19 duty was brutally assaulted.

The Home Ministry disagrees with the Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishment (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019 stating that the special law was not reasonable, citing health as a state issue. The law sought to enforce a jail term of up to 10 years for those attacking any on-duty doctors and other healthcare workers.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that the government has taken some steps for the safety and security of healthcare professionals. In a letter, he mentioned that on 22nd April 2020, the Union Ministry of Health had issued an Ordinance to revise the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 for protecting healthcare workers and their property against violence during epidemics. The Ordinance was then notified as the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020 on 29th September 2020. Such an offense has now been made non-bailable and cognizable.

Few reports of incidents of violence against doctors and other healthcare workers have been reported from Assam, Karnataka, and West Bengal. Agarwal urged states to review the situation and take necessary steps for the safety of their healthcare workers.

Source: Financial Express