Centre should withdraw Clinical Establishments Act: Pravin Togadia

NEW DELHI: The Centre should withdraw the Clinical Establishments Act as its "stringent" provisions severely affected the private doctors and clinics, who provided healthcare services to two-thirds of the population, VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said today.

"Gradually, this act will make the treatment costly as its stringent provisions will force the closure of the private clinics. The patients will be forced to go to the big corporate hospitals which charge a hefty amount," he said.

Togadia, who himself is a doctor by qualification, was speaking at a protest organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) here.

"Today, 71 per cent of the healthcare services in the country are provided by private doctors and clinics while the remaining 29 per cent is provided by the government," he said.

The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 was enacted by the Centre to provide for registration and regulation of all the clinical establishments in the country to prescribe the minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them.