Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

`No need for new private medical colleges'

By Our Special Correspondent

SALEM April 27. The chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Indian Medical Association (Tamil Nadu), R.M. Krishnan, has said there is no need to start new private medical colleges in the State as the ratio of doctors has already reached a saturation point and the number of unemployed or underemployed doctors remains at 6,000.

In a statement here, Dr. Krishnan, who was the former State president of the Indian Medical Association, said that already the previous governments had agreed in principle to impose a ban on starting private self-financing medical colleges.

As such, the present Government should accede to the demands of the agitating medicos "that are just and reasonable."

Dr. Krishnan said that as per the norms set by the World Health Organisation and the recommendations of Dr. A.L.Mudaliar Committee, the saturation point had been reached in regard to the doctor-population ratio (1:2500) and a teaching hospital rendering speciality treatment existed every 80 km.

Welcoming the move of religious heads to start super-speciality hospitals, he expressed the hope they could be put to good use for training more number of doctors on high-tech gadgets.

This would help to increase the employability of doctors and to produce specialists, and silence the clamour for opening private colleges.

The Government should implement the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishment Act, 1997 to prevent quacks from starting clinics and hospitals.

Even six years after the law had been passed it had not been implemented.

This emboldened the quacks to rule the roost in rural areas where allopathic doctors would not step in for fear of reprisal.

An `anti-quackery bill' alone could curb social evils such as pre-natal sex determination and pregnancy termination.

On disposal of bio-medical waste, Dr. Krishnan said the Government should come to the rescue of nursing homes and hospitals in districts and taluks by entrusting the responsibility to the Health Department as was being done in Chennai.

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