Over 70 Padma Award-winning doctors have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a speedy enactment of a special law to deal with violence against healthcare workers and implementation of improved security protocols in medical facilities, expressing anguish over the Kolkata rape-murder incident .
Ashok Vaid, Harsh Mahajan, Anoop Misra, AK Grover, Alka Kriplani Eminent doctors such as Dr. Mohsin Wali and Mohsin Wali have sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “immediate and personal intervention” to address the “shocking” situation and recommended the Center to immediately promulgate an ordinance to ensure that those concerned Anyone who commits violence (whether verbal or physical) against medical staff is subject to “the severest punishment”.
A female trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has been accused of rape and murder and claims of a botched investigation and cover-up have triggered widespread protests by medical staff and others. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other doctors' bodies are urging for a central law to ensure safety of medical personnel.
Eminent doctors also urged strict enforcement of existing laws and enhanced safety measures in hospitals and medical institutions.
Those who have written the letter include Dr Balram Bhargav, former director general of ICMR, Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS Delhi and Dr SK Sarin, director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. and excruciating pain. As the head of our nation, we implore you to intervene immediately and personally to address this alarming situation,” the letter said.
They said such brutality shakes the foundations of services provided by medical professionals and highlights the urgent need to address violence, particularly against women, girls and healthcare professionals.
“We stand unwaveringly with the families of the victims, whose pain and loss are unimaginable. We also offer our full support to the medical community, who increasingly face this type of violence in the course of their work. The utmost importance must be Prioritize the safety and dignity of health care professionals,” the letter said.
Doctors say stronger measures are urgently needed to prevent such atrocities.
“We call on law enforcement agencies, policymakers and society at large to take immediate and decisive action,” the letter said.
Doctors stressed the need for law enforcement agencies to apply the existing legal framework more strictly to protect healthcare professionals and advocated tough and swift penalties to deter such crimes.
The letter urges the government to implement improved safety protocols within healthcare facilities to ensure a safe working environment for all healthcare workers.
“We urge the central and state governments to quickly enact and implement a separate law to protect healthcare workers and ensure its prompt implementation on the ground,” the letter said.
“A proposed bill, the Prevention of Violence against Doctors, Medical Professionals and Healthcare Facilities Bill, has been ready since 2019 but has not yet been submitted to and passed by Parliament.
“We firmly believe that such a decree can be enacted immediately and should be passed as quickly as possible so that all those working in the country's healthcare delivery system can work without fear to serve suffering patients,” the letter reads. .
Doctors also stressed that the proposed ordinance/bill should ensure the harshest punishment to those who commit violence against healthcare workers, be it verbal or physical violence.
Such cases should be resolved expeditiously by the judiciary and the offense classified as non-bailable.
“Let this tragedy be a catalyst for real, lasting change. Through this letter, we sincerely call on you to protect the healthcare profession from personal attacks and the erosion of dignity and respect for all healthcare workers.
“For the sake of the late Nirbhaya, for the sake of all victims of sexual violence, and for the sake of future generations, we have a responsibility to create a society in which such horrors are unimaginable,” the doctors said, expressing hope for swift and decisive action.
The award-winning doctors include Dr. Harsh Mahajan, radiologist and founder and managing director of Mahajan Imaging, Dr. Nikhil Tandon, director of endocrinology department at AIIMS, Delhi, Dr. DS Rana, director of nephrology department at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Dr. Sandeep Guleria, a specialist transplant surgeon.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
