Doctors in Goa to take part in IMA’s strike today

Vasco: Non-essential medical services in the state will be shut from 6 am on Monday to 6 am on Tuesday as part of a nationwide shutdown call given by the Indian Medical Association.

IMA Goa state president Dr Anil Mehndiratta in a press statement said that “emergency services and casualty services will remain open during the strike period”.

All the doctors affiliated to the IMA will be available for all emergencies if need arises, Dr Mehndiratta said.

The IMA-Goa  doctors will hold a silent morcha in the city beginning at 10 am on Monday from the Azad Maidan to the Old GMC complex.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will meet the striking doctors during the morcha, Dr  Mehndiratta said.

The Goa Dental Association, the Goa Nursing Association, the Goa Association of Resident Doctors, the Goa Ayurvedic Doctors Association and the Goa Medical Representative Association pledged their support to the IMA Goa state, he said.

The strike is being held across the country in the wake of the recent assault on doctors in West Bengal.

PTI ADDS FROM NEW DELHI: Healthcare services at several government and private hospitals in the national capital are likely to take a hit on Monday as scores of doctors have decided to boycott work for a day.

IMA members will also stage a dharna at its headquarters here. Doctors at the Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital, RML Hospital as well as Delhi government facilities such as GTB Hospital, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital will not function on Monday.

The IMA said all outpatient departments, routine operation theatre services and ward visits will be withdrawn for 24 hours from 6 am on Monday to 6 am on Tuesday.

Emergency and casualty services will continue to function, it said.

The Delhi Medical Association and the Federation of Resident Doctors Association  also extended their  support to the strike call.             

“Emergent executive committee meeting convened today decided to support the call given by IMA for withdrawal of non-essential services on 17th June (Monday) for 24 hours (6am to 6am) to protest against violence against doctors and hospitals. All clinics, nursing homes, diagnostic centres and hospitals are requested to shut down routine services,” a statement by DMA said. 

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on strike since June 11 after two of their colleagues were reportedly attacked and seriously injured by relatives of a patient who died at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

In a show of solidarity, medical practitioners across the country chose not to work, leaving patients in the lurch.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday asked states to consider enacting specific legislation for protecting doctors and medical professionals from any form of violence.

The  IMA has demanded a comprehensive central law in dealing with violence on doctors and healthcare staff.

Security measures and the determinants leading to violence should also be addressed, it said in a statement.