The Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI) has wanted government of Kerala to frame a Medical Practitioners Act (MPA) for the whole jurisdiction of Kerala before implementing the Clinical Establishment Act.

The demand comes in the wake of continuous menace of quacks in Ayurveda and Homoeopathy in the Malabar region of Kerala by exploiting the exceptional privilege given to the traditional healers. The association says the minimum qualification of a medical practitioner, especially one from the Indian systems of medicine, should be defined through an Act.

While welcoming the Clinical Establishment Act, which is to regulate clinics and hospitals, AMAI says that it can be implemented in the state after the promulgation of the necessary qualification of a medical practitioner.

Dr V G Udayakumar, the executive committee member from Kerala to the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), along with the office-bearers of AMAI, has submitted a memorandum to the health secretary in this regard and later briefed the points to the chief minister seeking his support.

According to AMAI, the medical graduates are currently registering with the Travancore-Cochin Medical Council and following TCMP Act which came into being in 1955.  At the time of its formulation, it was meant only for the Travancore and Cochin regions and not extended to the Malabar area. The Indian Medical Central Council Act (IMCC) 1970 was applicable in the Malabar region. For the whole jurisdiction of Kerala, there is no exclusive medical council act even today, and lack of which several problems are mounting.

“The provisions of the TCMP Act has never been extended to the Malabar area of the state of Kerala, which was part of Madras province of British India, prior to the formation of Kerala in 1956. It was the Madras Medical Registration Act 1914 that regulated the practice of medicine in the Madras province. However, medical graduates from the northern part now register with the TCM Council”, said Dr Udayakumar.

Dr Rejith Anand, secretary of AMAI said, taking advantage of IMCC Act plenty of unqualified persons from Malabar region posing as traditional healers are getting registered with the TCM Council on the mercy of the exemption privilege. He said this exemption encourages quackery and brings disrepute to the qualified professionals. In 2011, AMAI approached the high court of Kerala against giving  exemption to traditional healers from acquiring recognized qualification and registration with the TCM Council. The court had ordered a stay order to the government, but no act has been passed by the government so far.

The ayurvedic physicians said a Medical Practitioners Act could put an end to quackery and it could control mushrooming of illegal ayurvedic massage centres. Before implementing the Clinical Establishment Act in Kerala, the government should formulate the Medical Practitioners Act to streamline the medical practices.