Impact of NHRC recommendations on Health

The National Human Rights Commission has been stressing that health and education are two basic human rights and both are part of our fundamental rights. Keeping in mind the Rights agenda, the Commission has been impressing upon the State functionaries that they were duty bound to do their best to realize these rights.
In this direction the Commission organized a Review Meeting on the recommendations of the Core Group on Health and Public Hearing on March 4, 2006. In this meeting a number of recommendations were made which were sent to the Medical Council of India (MCI). Later the Commission organized a "National Review Meeting on Health" on March 6, 2007. A copy of the recommendations of this meeting was also sent to the MCI .As a follow up, the Commission held a meeting with the Medical Council of India, Indian Nursing Council and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on August 30, 2007 to review the implementation of certain Recommendations on Health. During the meeting it was brought to the Commission's notice that steps had been taken to implement the major recommendations of the Commission.
Our recommendation was that the MCI should design a three year course for training doctors on basic preventive and curative health services so that the paucity or non-availability of manpower was taken care of. Another alternative was to have one-year bridge course for doctors of Indian System of Medicine and post them at the Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs). The Commission was informed that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had initiated steps to address the lack of manpower in the health sector. The Ministry informed that hospitals/health centers can take the services of doctors on contract basis now and the number of staff nurses had been increased to three at the PHCs.
Our recommendation was that to facilitate the provision of essential services in rural areas, there was a need to have a recognized course for Nurse Practitioners to ensure availability of independent treatment and also specialists like Nurse Anaesthetists and Gynaecologists in the rural areas. of the country. On the issue of nurse practitioners, the Ministry informed that special focus was being provided on training MBBS students in Anaesthesia and Gynaecology. A six months training on emergency handling and six months training on anaesthesia was specifically designed. The Commission was informed that the Planning Commission had approved Rs 15,000 crores to strengthen medical education in the Eleventh Plan and a proposal was being sent to the Planning Commission to provide more funds for opening 230 nursing colleges in the District Hospitals itself.
The Commission recommended that there was a need for the Medical Council of India and the Nursing Council of India to have a re-look and work out a methodology to recognize course for Nursing Practitioners. It was also necessary for Medical Council of India to have an inbuilt compulsory rural attachment and it could reduce number of years for post graduate training. The Medical Council of India (MCI) responding to the Commission's recommendations said that a three-year course for doctors of rural areas was in place but as the doctors refused to work in the rural parts of the country, shortage of doctors continued. In order to overcome the shortage, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Council of India were considering a proposal to increase the duration of MBBS course from 4to 5 years and in addition, one year compulsory rural attachment. The Doctors would be registered only on completion of rural attachment, the Commission was informed.
The Medical Council of India further informed that it had accepted the recommendations of the Commission to develop emergency medicine's as a specialty and the Course would be started shortly. Regarding the shortage of psychiatrists, the Acting President, MCI, Dr. P.C. Kesavankutty Nayar, informed the Commission that very few students applied for psychiatry as a subject at the PG level and the MCI would create awareness to promote the subject in Medical Colleges to tide over the shortage of psychiatrists.

The Nursing Council of India communicated to the Commission that it had taken various steps after considering the recommendations of NHRC to promote the establishment of Nursing Colleges in the country. The Nursing Council informed that now a nursing college could be opened by stipulating a minimum carpet area of 54,000 sq feet. The Council also said that earlier there used to be atleast five patients for one student but now there would be three patients for one student. Further, the Commission was informed that to start a nursing college, only a minimum of two M.Sc nursing teachers would be required. On the issue of nurse practitioners, the Commission was informed that the Indian Nursing Council had identified 14 specialties to have nurse practitioners, out of which 9 syllabi had been finalized till date.