Harish’s directive ruffles doctors’ feathers

Hyderabad: The Health Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) has condemned the Health Minister T Harish Rao’s directions to the officials to appoint trained quacks.

The HRDA said that it was unfortunate that instead of taking steps for eradication of quackery from the State the government was giving such a statement keeping the public health at stake.

In a press release issued here, the HRDA President K Mahesh Kumar asked as to why so many medical colleges were necessary if the government wants to train quacks? And also, it’s very unfortunate that the Health Minister is saying as if guidelines were laid by the High Court of Telangana for training of quacks.

The HRDA president said, In fact, the High Court expressed its view in WP(PIL) 286/2017 filed by HRDA as follows “To our query, we are told that there is no primary legislation in place to govern and provide for registration of Rural Medical Practitioners and Paramedics, who do not have registration as per law relating to registration of doctors or physicians in terms of the different empowering central enactments.

With this in view, we notice that the government had constituted a committee as delineated in paragraph No.4 of GO Rt No 428. The said committee, we hope, would have by this time, in the last three years, addressed on the requisite factors, because, the issues that arise by imparting Community ParaMedic Training and empowering the persons to call themselves as Paramedics could result in multifaceted situation which is required to be addressed by the Government and, if needed, by the State Legislature, as may be found necessary.”

Mahesh Kumar said that the Health department was silent without taking any necessary action on quacks who are claiming themselves as doctors, prescribing scheduled drugs. HRDA demands to immediately withdraw proposals for training of quacks and take necessary steps for eradication of quackery from the state of Telangana in the interest of public health.