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The call of resident doctors to strike seeking justice for the young lady doctor assaulted and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College is being supported by the Indian Medical Association, which is calling for hospitals to be declared as safe zones for all healthcare professionals..
The IMA is stepping it up at the national level, said IMA President Dr RV Asokan, as IMA State heads meet on Wednesday, to take up the safety of healthcare professionals. They are also sending a letter to the Union Health Minister, seeking among other things, a central law to protect healthcare workers.
There is overall concern, because if an incident like this can take place in a hospital in a metro , then imagine a PHC (primary health centre), located in less populated areas, Asokan told businessline.
Central Act
The fraternity is calling for hospitals to be declared a safe zone for all healthcare workers, and safety and security measures be well defined, he said. The medical fraternity is also calling for a Central Act to put in place deterrents to prevent such assaults from taking place; hospitals need to have police camps and CCTVs in private and large hospitals, he said.
There is an increasing “feminisation of the profession”, he said, of the lady doctors and nurses – and calling for steps to protect them at their workplaces. The IMA will take a call on its next steps, after they hear from the Centre.
On the Kolkata murder, Dr Sharad Agarwal, former IMA President said, the doctors want immediate action and punishment, investigation into how it happened and measures to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
National strike
The Federation of Resident Doctors Associations (FORDA), meanwhile, has already called for a national strike, stopping elective services in hospitals since Monday. The protests seeking justice for the young Kolkata doctor and safer working conditions for all working healthcare professionals will escalate, if steps are not taken to halt the violence being directed at the fraternity, a doctor said.
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