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Doctors in India are miffed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following his speech in the “Bhaarat Ki Baat Sabke Saath” event in UK. Answering a question on Modicare, the prime minister suggested a nexus between doctors and pharmaceutical companies and said that doctors attend international conferences regularly, but not to tend to patients.
While stating that the government has launched generic stores where good quality medicines are sold at cheaper prices, the prime minister also implied that doctors push for the sale of expensive medicines.
Deeply disappointed with PM Modi, the Association of Medical Consultants (AMC) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote to the PM saying that while there are indeed some black sheep, painting all of them with the same brush is unfair, reported ANI.
The AMC, in their letter, stated that while there are generic drugs and Jan Oushadhi schemes, these are not enough.
“Stricter pricing control on the pharmaceutical industry is required, and not pointing fingers at doctors, as we do not control the pricing of medicines or stents,” wrote the AMC.
The doctors asserted that they “cannot be made scapegoats for failures of successive governments to provide affordable healthcare to our populace.”
Dr Ranvi Wankhedkar, national president of the IMA, in conversation with ANI, said that the prime minister’s remarks made “in a country where the medical system is run by 70% Indians” has saddened medicine practitioners. He also said that issues like prices of drugs are in the hands of the government and not the doctors. Wankhedkar humbly requested the PM to reconsider his remark.
The IMA, in their letter addressed to Narendra Modi, wrote, “Engaging in small talk and maligning the entire medical fraternity in India with a broad brush on foreign soil was certainly not expected out of the prime minister.”
They also said that the health system of the country “from where you commented” would collapse without the support of Indian doctors.
The IMA, in their letter, pointed out that the association supports the Jan Ouhadhi scheme and itself has an outlet of Jan Oushadhi drugs.
The IMA letter signed by the national president and honorary secretary of the association, asks why does the government allow huge profit margin in the pharmaceutical industry despite it’s price control policy for drugs.
The doctors, finally, go on to say that the prime minister’s “unfortunate remarks” have brought disrepute to Indian doctors and to India.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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