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IMA's list of health issues

Staff Reporter

For perusal of political parties during the election time

KOZHIKODE: The State branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has drawn up a list of health issues for political parties to include in their election manifestos and implement if they come to power.

Presenting the issues at a press conference here on Friday, IMA State president Joseph Mani and State secretary R. Ramesh said the IMA sought a proper health policy for the State and an increase in the budget allocation for the health care delivery system.

The IMA is of the view that a new initiative is required to provide quality health care to all sections of society and to meet new challenges in the field.

They demanded a comprehensive medical law to safeguard the profession, so that doctors could work without fear. The investigating officer should take the opinion of an expert committee, which should include senior experts of the specialty concerned, before filing a case against a doctor in an alleged medical negligence case.

The IMA, they said, seeks proper functioning of the Travancore-Cochin Medical Council, which is the regulatory body of the health care delivery system. The election to the Council, formed in 1953, has not been held so far, they said.

The IMA seeks to highlight before the parties the need for a comprehensive Kerala Medical Practitioners Bill. The tax on medicines and hospital equipment should be abolished with a view to reducing the financial burden on patients. Revitalisation of infrastructure, manpower and administrative supervision, provision for safe drinking water, proper measures for waste disposal in hospitals and measures for road safety are some of the suggestions. The IMA wanted it to be taken into confidence in all policy matters.

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