Saturday, September 20, 2014

MCI pulled up by NHRC for failing in its social responsibility towards disabled persons

MCI pulled up for failing in its social responsibility

NEW DELHI, September 17, 2014, THE HINDU

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has come down heavily on the Medical Council of India (MCI) for not fulfilling its social responsibility towards differently-abled persons who avail of medical services and for not educating doctors on how to provide them treatment with dignity.

The Commission has recently issued a notice to the Council based on complaint by Dr. Satendra Singh, a differently-abled doctor at University College of Medical Sciences. He had earlier written to the MCI to include ‘disability education’ in medical curriculum.

“According to the World Report on Disability by the World Health Organisation (WHO), physicians worldwide generally lack training about caring for persons with disabilities, thus frequently compromising their health care experiences and health outcomes. The situation is worse in India as the MCI has failed to fulfil its social responsibility,’’ said Dr. Singh.

Previously, the MCI had instructed all medical institutions in India to submit compliance report on disability initiatives. “Majority of the responses indicate lack of awareness. I wrote again to the MCI to include disability education in 2013, but there was no response. Later an RTI reply by the MCI highlighted how the Council was not able to do justice towards disabled persons,” said Dr. Singh.

Now, the NHRC has demanded that the Council include mandatory access audits in all medical inspections. Also these access audits must include differently-abled persons in the team.

Source: The Hindu

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