A meeting of the All India Unani Tibbi Congress (AIUTC) Maharashtra was held at Hotel Shalimar, Ghatkopar (West), Mumbai, on Sunday, April 13. The event was graced by the National General Secretary of AIUTC, Hakim Syed Ahmed Khan, as the chief guest.
The programme began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Thereafter, tributes were paid to the former president of AIUTC, the late Dr. Shafiq Ahmed.
Dr. S.M. Hussain acknowledged the services of Dr. Shafiq Ahmed, stating that during his tenure, the organisation saw significant growth and gained popularity across all districts of Maharashtra during his presidentship.
Dr. Nadeem Usmani also praised Dr. Shafiq Ahmed’s leadership, mentioning that under his presidency, a successful AIUTC meeting was held in Nagpur. In that event, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra participated through a video message and, in response to AIUTC’s demand, promised the establishment of a government Unani medical college in Maharashtra. With AIUTC’s efforts, permission was eventually granted to start the college in the Raigad district, Alhamdulillah.
Dr. Usmani also informed the audience regarding the 50 CME points held through NCISM and mentioned a meeting between NCISM and BOER on April 18, 2023, concerning the Clinical Establishment Act and Unani medical practitioners.
In this meeting, NCISM had invited five representatives from various regions for consultation, including Dr. Nadeem Usmani from Maharashtra.
During the meeting, Dr. Usmani advocated strongly in favour of general practitioners and put forth several suggestions: Unani doctors should have equal rights as Ayurvedic doctors regarding the use of modern medicine; Biomedical waste services should be provided to doctors free of cost; Unani doctors should be given equal opportunities as Ayurvedic doctors in all government jobs in India; No restrictions should be imposed on the size of clinics; and No mandatory educational qualification should be imposed for compounders.
AIUTC assured that through its organisation, it would conduct CMEs to enhance doctors’ knowledge. However, it opposed charging extra fees from doctors for this purpose and advocated for offering free online CME sessions, similar to the facilities available to allopathic doctors.
In Maharashtra, doctors have to pay a fee to MCIM every five years for licence renewal. If a separate fee is also charged for CME credit points, it would place an additional financial burden on doctors.
Currently, the NCISM renewal portal has not yet started, and to conduct CME, registration is required. After registration, the details of the doctors are sent to NCISM and MCIM. Then, a fee must be paid to NCISM, and only after that, permission is granted to conduct the programme – which generally takes around three months.
Regarding this, AIUTC is in contact with other Ayurvedic organisations. Discussions have also taken place with NIMA officials, who shared that they are also pressuring the department not to charge any fee (or to charge a minimal fee) for CME credit points.
AIUTC holds the same stance – that if they rush into conducting any programme, it may lead to the mandatory implementation of fees and CME for all. Other organisations might blame AIUTC for being the reason behind the imposition of such policies. Hence, AIUTC will not hastily conduct any CME programmes.
Currently, no Ayurvedic organisation is showing haste in conducting such programmes after this decision. As of now, no such programme has started in any state in the country. Therefore, AIUTC questions why Maharashtra should be the first to initiate it. However, if other organisations agree to this decision in the future, AIUTC plans to organise CME Credit Point programmes across all districts of Maharashtra and all Indian states.
Dr. Syed Ahmed Khan praised the performance of AIUTC Maharashtra and requested new members to contribute to the promotion of Unani medicine.
To ensure the success of the programme, AIUTC’s Working President Dr. Anas Farooqui appreciated the efforts of General Secretary Dr. Afzal Shaikh, Dr. Azeem Baig, and other members.
The event was moderated by Dr. Niaz Azmi, and the vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Shamsullah.
