Amid rising cases of doctors coming under attack, the Centre has asked state governments to register cases by invoking the stringent Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020 against those who assault doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla’s letter to States and Union Territories came following several incidents of attack on doctors and healthcare professionals in different parts of the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You will agree that any incident of threat or assault on doctors or healthcare professionals may dampen their morale and create a sense of insecurity amongst them. This may adversely affect the healthcare response system,” Mr Bhalla wrote.
The home secretary said in the present circumstances, it has become imperative that strict action be taken against those who assault healthcare professionals.
“Institutional FIRs should be registered against assaulters and such cases should be fast-tracked. You may also like to invoke provisions of the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020, where applicable,” he said.
This comes a day after the Indian Medical Association (IMA) held a nationwide protest in demand for the implementation of a central law to protect doctors and healthcare professionals against acts of violence.
The home secretary in the letter also said that their earlier advisories dated April 27 and June 9 suggested remedial measures like provision of adequate security at healthcare facilities, especially at Covid designated hospitals, controlled and restricted access to the premises, deployment of quick response police teams at vulnerable locations, effective local level intervention with well equipped centralized control room for monitoring and quick response etc.
On June 18, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) called a nationwide protest over recent incidents of violence against healthcare professionals and demanded a central law to curb such cases.
According to IMA, around 3.5 lakh doctors participated in the agitation.
