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One homoeopath registers under MMC amid allopathic doctors pushback
“This is a historic victory for homoeopaths, who will now be able to officially prescribe allopathic medicines. This marks equality for homeopaths with allopathic doctors, and will go a long way in improving healthcare in rural areas,” said Dr Yogesh Bhalerao, national working president of the Integrated Doctors Association. Maharashtra is the first state to permit homoeopaths to practice allopathy.
MUMBAI: A day after the state government approved the conditional registration of homoeopaths, allowing them to dispense allopathy medicines in remote and rural areas, Mankhurd-based Dr Neha Siddharth Pawar on Tuesday became the first homoeopath in Maharashtra and the country to be registered by the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC). The next round of registrations is expected to start today.
“This is a historic victory for homoeopaths, who will now be able to officially prescribe allopathic medicines. This marks equality for homeopaths with allopathic doctors, and will go a long way in improving healthcare in rural areas,” said Dr Yogesh Bhalerao, national working president of the Integrated Doctors Association. Maharashtra is the first state to permit homoeopaths to practice allopathy.
Although the registration process was scheduled to start on Tuesday, homoeopaths staged a silent protest and waited the entire day while hectic parleys continued between government officials and protesting allopathic doctors, alongside technical snags in the registration process. Dr Neha Pawar registered at around 9.30 pm.
The Central unit of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) announced a suspension of services across all state government hospitals attached to medical colleges to oppose the government’s move. All elective and non-emergency services—including OPDs, elective procedures, routine duties and academic activities—by resident doctors across 32 government hospitals and five municipal corporation-run hospitals will be suspended for 24 hours starting at midnight on August 5.
Life-saving emergency services such as ICUs, trauma care units and maternity labour wards will be kept operational till 6 am on August 6. If the issue is not resolved, the allopathic doctors have threatened an indefinite strike from 6 am on August 6, wherein they will withdraw emergency services indefinitely till further orders. Services in all the city’s major hospitals like KEM, Sion and Nair will be affected.
The doctors have been demanding an immediate halt to the proposed registration process until an appropriate legal and regulatory framework is established. They are also seeking the inclusion of MARD representatives in the committee constituted for drafting the Standard Operating Procedure regarding the registration.
MARD, along with other bodies like the Maharashtra State Resident Doctors Association (MSRDA), Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI), joined the stir announced by the Indian Medical Association. In its statement, Central MARD stated that the agitation was not against the public but a fight to safeguard medical education standards, patient safety, and the future of healthcare in Maharashtra.
The MMC delayed the registration process through the entire day even as about 200 homoeopaths stayed put at its office. “About 200 homoeopathic doctors kept waiting for registration, but officials stayed engaged in talks with various officials,“ said Dr Abrar Inamdar, secretary of the Integrated Doctors Association and a member of the Maharashtra Rajya Homeopathy Doctors Kriti Samiti.
The day was marked by hectic parleys between senior health department officials and various doctors’ delegations, which remained inconclusive. “Representatives of the IMA and MARD were called for a meeting at Cama Hospital by the principal secretary of the medical education department Dheeraj Kumar, who expressed his inability to stall the process,” Dr Atharva Shinde, president of Central MARD told HT. “There are court orders and the registration process for homoeopaths will have to proceed.”
The IMA delegation has been trying to stall the registrations until August 13 when a court verdict on this issue is expected.
