The World Medical Association (WMA) has strongly condemned the Indian government’s plan to dismantle the professional self-governance of Indian physicians through National Medical Commission Bill.

The World Medical Association is the independent confederation of national medical associations with 114 constituent members representing more than ten million physicians.

In a letter to the chairman of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, WMA leaders say that the Indian government’s Bill to replace Medical Council of India with 25-member National Medical Commission where most of the members will be nominated by the central government, would be counterproductive for patients and for furthering the development of the medical profession in India.

There is also absence of elected members in all four of the proposed boards to govern undergraduate and postgraduate courses, rating and assessment of medical colleges and registration of doctors.

The existing Medical Council of India has 130 members, having a representative character with two-thirds elected and one-third nominated professional members representing the entire spectrum of professional stakeholders.

They warn that the government's proposed Bill would lead to more Indian doctors leaving the country, affecting patient care.

The government had referred the NMC Bill to the 31-member parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare led by Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav, following demands of several parliamentarians from opposition parties and its own coalition partners.

The letter, jointly signed by WMA president Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura and WMA Chair Dr. Ardis Hoven, says that ‘there is absolutely no evidence from anywhere in the world that the regulation of a profession is better done by government’.

‘Professional self-governance is a tried and tested tool for regulating the profession in a responsible and effective way and for protecting it from undue influence, such as economic or political interests’.

WMA further says that professional self-governance facilitates professional autonomy and clinical independence. A shift from a democratically elected, autonomously governed body to a politically established and government directed body would be counterproductive for patients and for encouraging the development of the medical profession in India.

The WMA leaders add, ‘India suffers from a strong brain drain, especially of physicians to other countries. Taking away a part of their professional identity will increase dissatisfaction and frustration, and probably lead to an even higher attrition rate.

‘Indian physicians are working and are welcomed and looked after in many places in this world. Making their home country and their communities less attractive would not be wise.

‘With all those factors in mind, we support the efforts of our Indian colleagues to stop or categorically amend this law - for the benefit of Indian physicians and, most importantly, for the benefit of Indian patients and the population', concludes WMA.

Dr K K Aggarwal, president Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and immediate past national president Indian Medical Association (IMA), said, “The WMA is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations, and represents physicians worldwide. The very fact that such a large Association is opposed to the idea of handing over the regulatory powers to the hands of the government and supports the MCI is enough to indicate what the actual scenario is. There has been no quantifiable evidence whatsoever of corruption within the MCI, pointing to the need to revisit the idea of replacing the body with a draconian act that will take away professional autonomy from doctors.”

Dr Aggarwal, who is also vice president of the Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania, said, “Even in the presence of a full-time administrator appointed by the Delhi High Court to supervise the MCI’s functioning for a year, there was not a single event pertaining to the functioning of the Council, which could be said to be contrary to the governing rules. Where then does the question of corruption arise? The MCI has been instrumental in bringing out regulations for the benefit of the medical fraternity and students, an example of which is the NEET. It is, therefore, blatant injustice to make it inconvenient and difficult for Indian physicians to survive and practice in their home country by introducing such acts.”

One of the main contentions for replacing the bill was to get a new corruption-free mechanism but the NMC has the potential to breed corruption, he said.