The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the nation’s largest non-governmental medical organisation, has released a health-centric manifesto, drawing political attention to critical healthcare issues.

The manifesto addresses assaults on healthcare workers, biomedical waste management, working conditions of resident doctors, and the quality of medicines, among other issues.

Dr Sanjay Patil, Chairman of the Hospital Board of India, Pune Chapter, asserted that they will vote for candidates who take action on the list of submitted demands.

“Violence against doctors is one of the major issues at local, small-medium setup hospitals. We need to have a centralised act to protect doctors from any kind of violence. We have a state-level act to safeguard doctors, but the laws are not followed stringently. There is a lack of implementation of the Medical Protection Act, 2010. Also, the registration of hospitals is not being done as most facilities avoid it due to high registration fees,” he added.

The IMA also made it clear that the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010 must be amended to enforce strict penalties against those who attack healthcare workers.

The government must classify the offence as non-bailable and ensure investigations are completed within 60 days by an inspector-level officer, and establish fast-track courts for expedited trials, with daily witness examination if necessary, the manifesto stated.

It also highlighted the enormous harassment doctors face due to complicated registration and renewal processes for their hospitals and centres.

The IMA has a membership of over four lakh allopathic doctors nationally and more than 50,000 doctors across 227 branches in Maharashtra alone.