Doctors in many Indian hospitals closed out-patients departments and wore black arm bands on Friday to protest against a government decision to allow practitioners of traditional medicine (Ayurveda) carry out minor surgical procedures.
Ayurveda is a
centuries-old traditional system of healing with herbal concoctions and
massages that finds mention in ancient Hindu texts and is still widely
practiced in India.
The
countrywide strike was called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the
country’s top representative body for doctors.
“We stood up
for India, lost 700 doctors to COVID-19. Your turn now to save modern medicine
from mixopathy,” the IMA said in a newspaper advertisement on Friday.
The Indian
government in November amended regulations and issued a notification making it
legal for Ayurveda practitioners to perform procedures such as skin grafting,
cataract surgery, excision of benign tumours and root canal treatment.
The
regulations had previously disallowed such practice.
Ayurveda
practitioners who want to carry out surgical procedures will receive training,
but it is not clear who will carry this out.
“Modern
medicine is controlled and research-oriented, we’re proud of the heritage and
richness of Ayurveda but the two shouldn’t be mixed,” IMA president Rajan
Sharma said.
Out-patient
departments remained closed in hospitals in southern Kerala state and
north-eastern Assam, Times of India newspaper reported.
In other
states like Uttar Pradesh a symbolic one-hour strike was observed.
Some states
like Uttarakhand banned the strike invoking emergency laws to maintain
essential services.
In the
national capital New Delhi, doctors at several state-run hospitals wore black
arm bands to work.
The IMA has
said all intensive care and emergency services as well as all COVID-19-related
services would be maintained during the strike.
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