Dr. Vikram .R. Lotwala

In a complete overhaul aimed at cleansing the medical education system in the country, a task force of the Union health ministry has decided to scrap all regulatory bodies, including the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Pharmacy Council and the Nursing Council, sources revealed. There will instead be a single regulatory body - National Council for Human Resources in Health - which will oversee seven departments related to medicine, nursing, dentistry, rehabilitation and physiotherapy, pharmacy, public health/hospital management and allied health sciences, sources involved in the revamp process said on Thursday. The move now needs a formal government notification reports today's The Times Of India. To be very frank I am not very happy with this move. I might be totally wrong and you may not agree with me but although corrupt, remember the Medical council of India was an autonomous body. It was a prerogative of us doctors to cleanse it with our duty of voting and...

AMENDMENT NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 21st July, 2009 No.MCI-12(2) /2009-Med. -22654 - In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), the Medical Council of India with the previous sanction of the Central Government, hereby makes the following Regulations to amend the “Minimum Qualifications for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations 1998” , namely: - 1. (i) These Regulations may be called the “Minimum Qualifications for Teachers in Medical Institutions (Amendment) Regulations, 2009” . (ii) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. In the “Minimum Qualification for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations, 1998” , the following additions/modificat ions/deletions/ substitutions, shall be, as indicated therein: - 3(i)(a). In Schedule I, Clause (2), the words “The Heads of these departments must possess recognized basic university medical degree qualification or equivalent q...

A quick guide to the H1N1 virus and what you should do during the current epidemic WHAT IS H1N1? Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by a new strain of the influenza virus type A. The strain is known as H1N1 and is the same as the one found in seasonal flu outbreaks, except that it contains genetic material found in birds, humans and pigs. It is now a wholly human virus How does it spread? Flu viruses are spread through droplets that fall from your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze. These particles can be inhaled or transferred to others via hard surfaces, such as door handles, phones, keyboards and remote controls How concerned should I be? In most cases, symptoms of the virus are relatively mild. The majority who have caught it have made a full recovery within a week, many without medical treatment and some without knowing they were infected Laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) show a mortality rate of 0.4%, in line with...

This is regarding the cases of child abuse. Seen not only in the poor class but also in so called high societies. Child abuse ranges from heinous crime of rape and sexual perversion to corporal punishments in school to parental excess of punishments. The images of schoolchildren lying in a supplicant position with their arms stretched out in front while a man drives a motorbike over their fingers are shocking. That’s what happened exactly at a government elementary school in Tamil Nadu showcasing – of all things – the children’s ‘bravery’. What’s even more staggering is that the event was planned in conjunction with the parent-teacher association, with the consent of the parents of the children involved. That the parents of these children saw nothing wrong in risking the health of their kids to pull barbaric stunts to impress politicians is disquieting. Even for those inured to corporal punishment being routinely doled out to kids in schools despite laws to the contrary, such abuse o...