National Medical Commission to replace MCI: Niti Aayog

Medical Council may be replaced by National Medical Commission

          A high-level committee headed by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya is proposing the scrapping of Medical Council of India (MCI) and replacing it with the National Medical Commission (NMC). Besides Panagariya, the panel, which is looking into the issue of poor regulation of medical education by MCI, includes Prime Minister’s Additional Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Health Secretary Bhahanu Pratap Sharma.“The committee has firmed up its decision to scrap the MCI and replace it with the NMC, which will take over all its responsibilities. The main objective behind this is to end the inspector raj in the medical field in the country,” a senior government official said. NMC will become the main regulatory body and will take over all roles and responsibilities of the MCI, he said.

        Another important aspect is that the new body will have eminent doctors and experts from related fields to suggest the direction that should be given to medical education in the country so as to ensure that the quality of education is at par with global standards, the official added.“The committee met for numerous times and held detailed discussions on how to create a world-class professional structure of the new body. Consultations were held with a lot of eminent doctors, office holders of the MCI, former Health Secretaries and medical officers from the states,” he said.Confirming the development, another senior government official said that the work on the restructuring is “more than half way through” on the draft. The biggest change will be that in the existing MCI, the members are elected and it has created the biggest problem as eminent doctors did not get a chance to participate in workings of the MCI, the official said.

          Another suggestion that the high-level panel is making is that the regulators in the new body will be selected and will not be elected. This selection will be done by a high level Search-cum-Selection committee, which will be a transparent process and will work on bringing the best.

           NMC will have around 19-20 members and their tenure will be about five years. It will also have members from other fields such as economics, law, etc in a bid to inculcate more professionalism in the body, he said. “It will have a chairman as well as there will be four Boards — Under Graduate Medical Board, Post Graduate Medical Board, Accreditation and Assessment Board and a board for registration of medical colleges as well monitoring of the ethics in the profession,” the official said. These Boards will be given autonomy and they will work on the fields for which they are formed.

After MCI, Niti Aayog to work on restructuring of UGC, AICTE

       Government think tank Niti Aayog, which is at present working on restricting the Medical Council of India (MCI), has also been entrusted with the task of preparing a similar road map for the UGC and the AICTE.“Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed Niti Aayog to also work on restructuring the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as well a board looking after Homeopathy and Ayurvedic education in the country,” a senior government official said.This is on the same lines as that of the restructuring strategy for the MCI, he added. “The general consensus is that these organisation are needed to be made more relevant to the changing times today. Also it is felt that there is a need to make them more performance-oriented so that the quality of education also improves,” the official said.

SC allows 24-week pregnant woman to undergo abortion

The Supreme Court on 25th July 2016, Monday, allowed a 24-week pregnant woman to terminate her pregnancy in view of foetal abnormalities and the anticipated risks to her health.

A bench headed by justice J.S. Khehar granted the woman liberty to undergo an abortion, while taking note of the findings of a medical report which it had sought.

“In view of the clear findings of the medical board, whose examination showed that continued pregnancy could endanger the petitioner’s life, we are satisfied that it may be permissible to terminate pregnancy,” said Justice Khehar.

Acting on a directive from the apex court on Friday, a medical board comprising seven doctors of King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEM), Mumbai, examined the petitioner the next day and recorded several foetal anomalies and associated health risks in case of continued pregnancy.

While granting permission to terminate the pregnancy, the court did not go into the question of relaxation of the 20-week ceiling prevailing under the current law.

Section 3(2)(b) of The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, restricts the time period for a woman to avail herself of abortion services at 20 weeks.

Mukul Rohatgi, attorney general of India, argued that the 20-week ceiling should not be applicable in this case as there was a danger to the life of the petitioner.

Due to this, it fell within the exceptions granted under Section 5 of the MTP Act, and termination should, therefore, be allowed, he said.

The petitioner said that setting a ceiling of 20 weeks under the provisions of the MTP Act was “outdated” and “arbitrary” in view of the technological advancements and cases of medical complications.

“The life circumstances of the young woman have evidently weighed on the court in firstly ordering the medical examination and then passing orders for a delayed abortion on the strength of medical opinions, which stated that the woman’s life would be in danger if the pregnancy was carried to term. Whether the choice of the woman would have prevailed if medical expertise had opined otherwise remains a moot question,” said Amita Dhanda, professor at the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR, Hyderabad.

Highlighting the need for a re-look at the current abortion law, Aishwarya Bhati, advocate on record in the Supreme Court, said, “Science has made significant progress since 1971, the year the 20-week ceiling was imposed. There is a need to change laws to address genetical deformity and sexual abuse. The relief should not be granted only for special cases but for all... which can be achieved with a re-look at the 20-week period under the current law.”

Seeking the quashing of the provisions upholding the 20-week restriction, the petition held that a ceiling of 20 weeks was “arbitrary, harsh, discriminatory and violative” of Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Indian Constitution.

According to the petitioner, forcing a woman to undergo an unwanted pregnancy would result in the violation of her right to dignity and sexual and reproductive freedom as guaranteed under the Constitution.