Citation

Nagpal N. Natl. Med. J. India 2017; 30(2): 97-100.

Affiliation

Convener, Medicos Legal Action Group (MLAG), a registered Trust of qualified doctors that takes legal action on issues which adversely affect the medical profession in India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, New Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

28816220

Abstract

Violence against doctors is on the rise all over the world. However, India has a unique problem. Meagre government spending on healthcare has resulted in poor infrastructure and human resource crunch in government hospitals. Hence, people are forced to seek private healthcare. Small and medium private healthcare establishments, which provide the bulk of healthcare services, are isolated, disorganized and vulnerable to violence. Violence against health service providers is only a manifestation of this malady. The Prevention of Violence Against Medicare Persons and Institutions Acts, which have been notified in 19 states in the past 10 years, have failed to address the issue. To prevent violence against doctors, government spending on healthcare must be increased and the Indian Penal Code should be changed to provide for a tougher penalty that could act as a deterrent to violence against doctors.

Language: en