Exclusive Report: Indian doctors react to IMA's stand on The Lancet editorial
M3 India Newsdesk Aug 21, 2019
On Monday (August 19) the Indian Medical Association (IMA) reacted to The Lancet’s editorial titled, “Fear and Uncertainty around Kashmir’s Future”, calling it as interference with India’s internal matters. Among Indian doctors however, the opinions seem to be divided.
Earlier on August 17, the 187-year old medical journal, in its editorial highlighted the health concerns of the people of Kashmir in light of the lockdown. Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) has been under complete communication blockade and curfew since August 5, the day Government of India abrogated Article 370 and repealed special status of the state.
“It is unfortunate that the reputed medical journal The Lancet has committed [a] breach of propriety in commenting on this political issue... The Lancet has no locus standii on the issue of Kashmir. Kashmir issue is a legacy that the British empire left behind,” stated IMA’s letter to The Lancet’s editor, Richard Horton.
It also said, “The Indian Medical Association on behalf of the medical fraternity of India withdraws the esteem we had for The Lancet.”
RV Ashokan, Secretary General of IMA, told M3 India, “It is not about the merit of the issue, it is about the credibility and jurisdiction of a medical journal.”
He explained, “A medical journal should refrain from commenting on such issues or they should rebrand themselves saying that they are not a medical journal.”
He, however, maintained that the IMA welcomes critical views, and everyone is entitled to have their opinion.
Ashokan outrightly denied that the IMA’s letter was guided by nationalistic fervour. However, he said, there is an unwritten intention by The Lancet, in the name of a medical journal, to deride India on everything and anything.
Not everyone agrees
However, there are a number of medical practitioners who do not agree with IMA’s view over The Lancet’s editorial piece and think otherwise.
Fuzail Ahmed, a resident doctor at the Magadh Medical College, told M3 India that he doesn’t believe that the views of the medical fraternity are expressed by IMA’s stand.
He believes that the IMA’s position is contradictory to the ethics of the profession. “As a doctor, we are supposed to treat patients without being concerned about political conflicts and boundaries. For us human lives matter first, the idea is that we try our best to diagnose patients better,” he added.
On August 16, in another medical journal, BMJ, a group of 18 doctors from across India said that in Kashmir there is “blatant denial of the right of health care and the right to life.”
The letter written by Dr. Ramani Atkuri shed light on the medical health concerns in the Valley. “People are unable to call an ambulance to take a sick person to [a] hospital, they need to be taken [in] a private vehicle if they have access to one. These vehicles are stopped every few metres by security forces standing at concertina wire barricades to check [the] identity [of people] and ask questions. Several patients have been admitted with pellet gun injuries, and some have been seriously injured. Only those who can make it to a hospital can get some care,” he wrote.
Doctors also raised concerns about their patients on dialysis as only a few patients requiring dialysis from Srinagar have been able to come for treatment, while those living outside have not been able to reach the hospital. “Certain medications are out of stock in the local stores and there is at least one report of a person having to fly to New Delhi to purchase medicines for a sick relative. There are reports of other patients who have not been able to reach the hospital in time for their scheduled cycle of chemotherapy.”
The letter also raised serious concerns about psychosocial and mental stress.
The doctors have appealed the Government of India to “ease restrictions on communication and travel at the earliest and undertake any other measures that are required to allow patients to access health care without hindrance.”
People’s Health Movement (PHM), a network of grassroots health activists, also released a statement on the concerns about the public health situation in J&K. In a statement signed by more than a hundred health activists, it said, “The current situation [in Kashmir] is a blatant denial of the human rights to health and life, guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of India, including Article 21.”
The PHM also highlighted the shortage issue of essential drugs and medicine in the Valley. “News reports of the lack of transport causing pregnant women to travel long distances on foot for delivery or not being able to make it to the hospitals, are extremely concerning.”
“It would be wrong to say that they [IMA] are writing on behalf of [the] medical fraternity. We, as doctors, know for sure that The Lancet has earlier too written on several political conflicts and this is not the first time that they have done so,” said Sanjay Nagral, Chairman of the Forum for Medical Ethics Society, according to Down to Earth.
Dr. Kafeel Khan, who the Uttar Pradesh government tried to blame for the deaths of children suffering from encephalitis in Gorakhpur, told M3 India, “I will not comment on Indian Medical Association. They haven’t yet said anything on my suspension after the Gorakhpur incidence.”
However, he agreed with the concerns raised by The Lancet and BMJ. “The day we join the profession, we take an oath that we would not discriminate among patients on the grounds of race, religion, colour and creed. Right now, the concern should be that any patient who remains devoid of diagnosis because of lockdown.”
He said that The Lancet and BMJ are like ‘The Bible’ for doctors and medical practitioners and their concern must be taken seriously.
A resident doctor from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, requesting anonymity, said, "Our job is to cure and save lives. It has nothing to do with nation or ideologies.”
Few other medical practitioners whom we spoke to, too did not agree with IMA’s stand, however, they denied commenting on it on record saying, “it might create a problem for our professional career”. They said, “the profession has been influenced by the political scenario.”
Emily Head, the Media Relations Manager of The Lancet, in an email response said, “The Lancet regularly covers issues where politics and medicine intersect since health is an important political issue in every society. National and international attention about the situation in Kashmir is high and ongoing. We have expressed our profound concerns about the physical and mental health of Kashmiris, which we believe have been given insufficient attention so far.”
Emily also cited previous editorials of The Lancet concerning health issues in Syria, Yemen and Venezuela, where health concerns were equally political.
Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.
The author, Rohin Kumar, is a New Delhi-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
-
Exclusive Write-ups & Webinars by KOLs
-
Daily Quiz by specialty -
Paid Market Research Surveys -
Case discussions, News & Journals' summaries
