IMA’s new governing body led by Dr KK Aggarwal as the National President & Dr RN Tandon as Hony. Secretary General HO pledges to work towards an affordable and ethical medical practice

IMA’s new governing body led by Dr KK Aggarwal as the National President & Dr RN Tandon as Hony. Secretary General HO pledges to work towards an affordable and ethical medical practice New Delhi, December 30, 2016: The new governing body of the Indian Medical Association – Team Digital IMA 2016-2017 was sworn in recently in Amritsar led by Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal, as it’s 88th National President. Dr RN Tandon will support him as the association’s Honorary Secretary General. Together they will represent the best interests of over 2.8 lakh registered IMA doctors from across the country The Indian Medical Association is the largest representative organisation of doctors of modern scientific medicine in the world with over 1700 local and 30 state branches. In 2017 IMA will continue to fight for its demand of capping the compensation provided in medical negligence cases, undemocratic National Commission Bill and a ban on non-MMBS and non-BDS doctors prescribing modern medicine drugs. They also stand united against the increasing violence against doctors and feel that a Central Act to protect doctors is the need of the hour. Awareness campaigns aimed at highlighting the unfair nature of the PCPNDT and Clinical Establishment Act will be launched. The real strength of IMA lies in its unity and a collective commitment to the betterment of the medical profession, and it is for this reason that the theme for the coming year will be ‘IMA One Voice. The four A’s of universal healthcare- “Available”, “Accessible”, “Affordable”, and “Accountable” will be the guiding determinants of the new team’s policies for the year 2017. Discussing the goals and visions of IMA for the forthcoming term, IMA’s National President Dr KK Aggarwal said, “I thank each one of you for entrusting me with this great responsibility and on behalf of the entire team I assure you transparent, efficient and effective governance. The year 2017 will be about embracing our Prime Minister’s vision of a cashless and digital economy. We will launch several training modules for doctors detailing ways in which they can ethically maximize their practice and work in the best interest of the public by going digital. We will ensure open communication between all IMA members and help them move towards a cashless practice. Several important programs aimed at providing affordable and quality healthcare will be launched. The best practices of the Indian Medical Sector will also be highlighted at a global stage through our representation in the World Medical Association and CMAAO.” Adding to this, Dr RN Tandon, the new Honorary Secretary General said, “We are committed to making 2017 a promising year for the medical fraternity and promise to work in the best interest of all IMA members and the general public. The medical profession is a noble one and we must all restore faith in it by being transparent and accountable”. Some new initiatives that will be launched in 2017 include: • Mandatory request for organ donation under the ‘ Poochna mat bhoolo' initiative. • For Vector Control, IMA will be launching the campaigns “Apkeghar me machhar to nahi” and “Katwaiga to nahi”. Community participation is a must for vector control. No house should be left unattended. The IMA campaign against mosquito breeding, especially Aedes, will be called ‘DENGwar’. • Hygiene: A large number of diseases can be controlled by teaching and practicing hygiene. The components will include personal, food, water, sleep, hand, sexual, pet, kitchen, cough, respiratory, and mobile hygiene. The campaign slogan will be “Kahinmeingandagi to nahifelaraha”. • “Aao School Chalen” will be a project dedicated to hygiene, vector control, and cardiac first aid(CPR). Thousands of lectures will be organized in schools at the same time on the same date acrossthe country. • IMA will start a Campaign 950 with the intention of bringing the female-to-male ratio back tonormal. • A Blood Donation Cell will create awareness about 100% voluntary blood donations. 1st July will be IMA Voluntary Blood Donation Day. Every state will have a Blood Donation Cell and chairmen of all states will meet regularly to promote blood donations in the country. • . With regard to the elderly and the oldest, IMA will start campaigns “Abhi to main jawanhoon” and “Forget me not”. • . To control non-communicable diseases, IMA supports high alcohol tax, 85% pictorial warning on tobacco packs and high tobacco taxes and introduction of sugar tax. The campaigns will be “White sugar is a slow poison”, “Move Move and Move” and “Glow Red Campaign”. • To help document and control preventable mortality, every preventable death will be duly audited. • The concept of ALERT- Acknowledge, Listen, explain, Revise and Thanks is being advocated as a routine practice in a clinical setting. Dr Anil Goel, Dr Vinod Khetrapal & Dr Ashwani Dalmia the new Joint Secretary were also present in the press meet