The IMA Should Stop Playing Victim
Guest article by Dr Sanjay Nagral The citizen is being shortchanged by the medical fraternity, but try telling the IMA that A surgery in an Indian private hospital. (Photo-Asian Development Bank) A few paragraphs in a social sciences textbook of the NCERT for Class VII is hardly the kind of writing that makes major news. But when the Indian Medical Association (IMA) petitions the Prime Minister objecting to some sentences it should arouse curiosity not only because it seems like a trivial matter being blown out of proportion but because it suggests a lot about an organisation that has a critical role in health care discourse in India. The issue is as follows. In the VIIth standard NCERT textbook chapter on the “Role of government in health”, under the sub-head “Private health facilities”, it says, “In order to earn more money, these private services encourage practices that are incorrect. At times cheaper methods, though available, are not used. For example, it is co