Pune: An umbrella body of homeopathic doctors’ associations in the state has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis justifying the registration of the homeopaths, who have completed the one-year certificate course in modern pharmacology (BHMS-CCMP), with the Maharashtra Medical Council. The letter sent on Friday claimed that the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) objections are based on monopoly and competitive fear and ignore the health issues of the rural people in Maharashtra. It said that accepting IMA’s demand to stay the registration will be an injustice.Vijay Pawar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Homeopathic Doctors’ Action Committee, told TOI on Saturday that when it comes to serving patients in rural areas and slums in cities, MBBS doctors do not come forward.“Even today, many patients are dying due to the lack of doctors. For millions of families in rural areas, CCMP doctors are the real life savers,” he said.IMA believes that it enjoys ownership of allopathy, he further said. “Its opposition is challenging the legal amendments made to the Acts (the Maharashtra Homeopathic Practitioners’ Act and the Maharashtra Medical Council Act),” Pawar added.On Friday, IMA Maharashtra chapter’s letter to Fadnavis said it is deeply concerned and strongly objects to the recent circular issued by the medical education and drugs department directing the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) to register CCMP-passed homeopathic doctors from Sept 17. “Do not implement any decisions until the pending Bombay high court case is decided. Only fully trained and qualified MBBS doctors should be granted licences for modern medicine,” it said.The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) on Saturday issued a statement saying that the homeopathic doctors’ associations have been falsely portraying a shortage of MBBS doctors in rural areas.“Claiming CCMP is needed for rural healthcare is misleading. Maharashtra has about 2,366 PHCs, but many are not fully functional due to a lack of infrastructure. Every year, over 10,800 MBBS students are admitted and over 11,000 interns graduate, creating a large pool of doctors. Despite this, many MBBS doctors willing to serve in rural areas remain without postings due to poor allotment. The real problem is mismanagement and underutilisation, not a shortage of MBBS doctors.” the statement said.The homeopathic doctors’ action committee has demanded in the letter that the CCMP doctors be immediately registered with MMC. The letter has justified registration on grounds that CCMP is a family physician course which provides rigorous training in emergency medicine, referral systems, and primary healthcare.“Comparing MBBS and CCMP is misleading. CCMP doctors do not ask for specialist status. They only ask for the right to provide primary healthcare and timely referral to the rural population. CCMP doctors have saved thousands of patients’ lives so far. In reality, there is a shortage of MBBS doctors in rural areas. Vacancies, insufficient attendance, and neglected villages are a fact. In such a situation, only trained CCMP doctors are providing timely treatment to patients. IMA should accept this reality,” the letter said.The letter has validated the legal status for CCMP as it was approved by the Maharashtra govt through a notification.
