Maharashtra doctors’ strike enters fourth day

Poor patients in Maharashtra were unable to access care for a fourth day yesterday as doctors at state hospitals extended a strike protesting assaults by patients’ families, adding pressure to an overburdened public healthcare system.The Bombay High Court yesterday ordered the doctors to resume work immediately and asked the government to ensure their security, as pregnant women and kidney dialysis patients were turned away from hospitals and surgeries postponed.Hundreds of doctors went on strike in New Delhi as well, many wearing helmets to call attention to the violent attacks.The Indian Medical Association (IMA), a lobbying group, supported the strike after dozens of attacks on doctors in recent years, some resulting in serious injuries, said IMA vice president R V Asokan.“We are only asking for security in the workplace, which every worker is entitled to. Doctors are already working under tremendous stress,” he said.The court also asked the authorities to permit only two relatives per patient inside the hospital and said the government should deploy security personnel at various hospitals.The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) filed an affidavit with the high court that they were prepared to work but the government and hospitals should assure them of safety and security.Making his first comments on the issue, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appealed to all doctors and organisations like MARD and IMA to withdraw their protest and promised better security and law enforcement.“The ongoing doctors agitation has caused a lot of inconvenience to the people, especially the poor patients, who are being deprived of medical care,” he said in the state legislature.India is emerging as a medical tourism destination with modern, well-equipped hospitals offering quality care at competitive rates compared to Western countries, but the country’s poor depend on poorly funded state hospitals.India spends less than 2% of its annual gross domestic product on healthcare, a fifth of the global average.Attacks on doctors in recent years have been triggered by frustrations with the public healthcare system, analysts say.State hospitals are generally overcrowded and understaffed, with filthy, outdated facilities.The government in its National Health Policy released last week called for restructuring the public healthcare system and increasing health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025, which is half of what the World Health Organisation recommends.In addition, doctors are calling for more security personnel and strict enforcement of the Doctors’ Protection Act, which provides up to three years’ imprisonment for violence against doctors.