National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill-2010 : A Brief Overview

The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2010, is aimed at strengthening the law in certain disciplines of health sector and promoting human resources in the health sector and provide for mechanism for determination, maintenance, coordination and regulation of standards of health education throughout the country to ensure adequate availability of human resources in all States and to supervise and regulate professional councils in various disciplines of health sector.

The provisions of the proposed new National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2010 are as follows:

• A registered health practitioner should not refuse on religious grounds alone giving assistance in or conduct of treatment for sterility, birth control, circumcision and medical termination of pregnancy where there is a medical indication, unless the health practitioner personally feels himself/herself incompetent to do so.

• Abuse of professional position by indulging in adultery or improper conduct with a patient or by maintaining an improper association with a patient will render a health professional liable for disciplinary action as will prescribing steroids and psychotropic drugs when there is no such need.

• Performing or enabling unqualified persons to perform an abortion or any illegal operation for which there is no medical, surgical or psychological indication and issuing certificates of efficiency in modern medicine to unqualified or non-medical persons can also attract disciplinary action.

• A health professional should not contribute to lay articles in the Press or give interviews about diseases and treatments which may have the effect of advertising himself or soliciting practice, but is open to write in the Press under his own name on matters of public health and hygienic living or to deliver public lectures, give talks on radio, television and internet chat for the same purpose and send announcements about the same to the Press.

• An institution run for a particular purpose such as a maternity home, nursing home, private hospital, rehabilitation centre or any type of training institution may be advertised in the lay Press, but such advertisements should not contain anything more than the name of the institution, type of patients admitted, nature of training and other facilities offered and the fee.

• In case of running of a nursing home by a health professional who employs assistants, the ultimate responsibility would rest on the health professional.

• An institution run by a health professional cannot use an unusually large signboard and write on it anything other than his name, qualifications obtained from a university or a statutory body, titles and name of his speciality, registration number including the name of the National or the State Council under which he is registered. The same goes for the contents of the prescription papers.

• It will be improper to affix a signboard on a chemist's shop or in places where the health practitioner does not reside or work. Using touts or agents to procure patients is also not permitted under the proposed new law.

Source: The Hindu