Arunachal: Doctors’ bodies decides to curtail protest | EastMojo
Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA-AP) and the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors’ Association (APDA) have decided to curtail their two-day protest to 24 hours on Friday.
The decision was made following a meeting between the two associations and Health Minister Alo Libang at the Civil Secretariat on Thursday.
The state’s medical fraternity, on Wednesday, announced a two-day statewide strike on May 7 and 8, in protest against the alleged act of violence against a doctor and vandalism at the Samaritan Hormin Hospital in Naharlagun.
The incident happened on Monday following the death of a female patient who had undergone a minor knee surgery.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, IMA-AP president Lobsang Tsetim said, “their protest is not to convey whether the doctor in question was right or wrong as it will be ascertained after a proper inquiry, but to protest the act of violence and vandalism at the hospital.”
Also read: Arunachal: Doctors to go on strike over attack on colleagues
He said that essential and emergency services along with COVID-19 duty will not come under the purview of their protest and will continue as usual.
“On medical associations having their own set of protocols or guidelines to verify whether medical negligence has occurred or not,” Dr Tsetim said, adding that each medical institution has its death audit practice in place.
He, however, did not comment on what such a report says about the death of a patient leading to violence and vandalism.
The IMA-AP president said that the medical fraternity was “happy” with the outcome of the meeting with Libang.
He said that the health minister, while expressing concern over the incident, assured to strictly pursue the matter under the Arunachal Pradesh Protection of Medical Service Personnel and Medical Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damages or Loss of Property) Act, 2019, and also to provide compensation against the damages.