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President of Indian medical council found guilty of corruption
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Brundtland asks North Korean government to spend more on health health care, which currently accounts “We know who are the vulnerable for only 3% of a national budget that is groups. They are pregnant women, skewed towards military spending. children, and people who are malnourThe North and South, which fought a ished so it’s not difficult to explain why bloody war during the mortality rate has 1950–52, have yet to increased considerRights were not sign a peace treaty. ably”, the WHO chief Brundtland’s comsaid. “Malaria, tubergranted to ments underscore the culosis, maternal, and include this sharp deterioration of child illnesses, they are image in the health system in all a great challenge.” North Korea over the Although North electronic media. past decade, which has Korea has been receivPlease refer to been marked by ing aid since 1995, floods, famine, and the WHO officials said life the printed economic isolation was improving only for journal. that followed the colthe privileged residents lapse of the Soviet of Pyongyang. Union. Brundtland said the In the 1960s, UN agency, which has Children need more aid Pyongyang boasted just established a perone of the most advanced health sysmanent headquarters in Pyongyang, tems in the world, providing free would appeal for US$8 million from medical cover for all its citizens. international donors. She also called on the North Korean government to allocate more funds to Jonathan Watts AP
ro Harlem Brundtland, director general of the WHO, warned on Nov 21 that the collapse of North Korea’s health system is increasing mortality rates among women, children, and other vulnerable groups. After her first visit to the capital city, Pyongyang, Brundtland said the international community and the North Korean government needed to provide more resources to rebuild dilapidated hospitals and halt the spread of preventable diseases. “There are many gaps that need to be filled and there are many people who suffer from a lack of medical equipment, drugs, and even infrastructure problems like electricity and water”, she told reporters in Seoul. Brundtland said the number of annual deaths in the reclusive state had increased by almost 40% in the past 7 years from 6·3 per 100 people to 9·3. She said the risks of mortality in North Korea’s 22 million people were spread unevenly.
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President of Indian medical council found guilty of corruption
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n an unprecedented judgment on Nov 23, the Delhi High Court, ordered the president of the Medical Council of India (MCI), Ketan Desai, who is also president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), to step down after he was found guilty of corruption. Last year Harish Bhalla, a general practitioner based in Delhi, filed a petition and lawsuit against Desai, which claimed that the head of the MCI was misusing the office by indulging in corrupt practices. MCI is the statutory regulator of medical education in India and has the power to approve new medical colleges, withdraw the licence to teach from current medical colleges, and regulates the number of students in colleges. Indian medical colleges must hold a proportion of places for non-Indian students. If these seats are not filled they may be offered to local students. Private colleges “sell” these seats and the court found that some colleges were doing this in collusion with Desai. “The receipts of these huge amounts of money by Desai and the observations of the Joint Director [Investigation] of the income tax department, that the alleged gifts are ‘make believe arrangements’ and not genuine
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gifts establish as correct the allegation of the petitioner that Desai is misusing his office . . . Such a person does not deserve to occupy the high public office”, the two-member bench of Justices Arun Kumar and R C Chopra observed in their 50-page judgment. “We presented to the court photocopies of the bank drafts totalling 6·5 million Indian rupees [US$136 000] paid to Desai, his wife, and two children. These drafts were found during the income tax raid at Desai residence last year in Ahmedabad and are duly certified by income tax authorities. This is the first time such a concrete evidence of corruption has been placed in a court of law and a person convicted”, observed Bhalla. The court has appointed a retired army general as MCI’s interim administrator and has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute Desai. The court also directed B J Medical College in Ahmedabad, where Desai is a professor of urology, to initiate disciplinary action. Desai’s misbehaviour went further. The MCI is supposed to have 128 members. But the court found that Desai had kept this number down to 77 members and about half
were appointed by him. MCI’s regulatory actions are supposed to be taken by an executive committee. However records of committee meetings examined by the court showed that all decisions relating to the recognition, inspection, and admission to colleges were left to the discretion of Desai. “The entire affairs of the council are controlled and managed by its President”, said the judgment. The high profile court case has provoked strong public reaction and newspaper editorials have called the case “medical corruption of India”. However the reaction from the medical establishment has been mixed. “The judgment has no repercussions for IMA and Desai has been elected directly by doctors from all over the country”, said IMA’s general secretary, Sanjiv Malik. The faculty association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences—where Desai heads the selection committee and is a member of the governing council—said it would write a letter of protest against Desai to the health minister. Desai’s lawyers have said that he will appeal. Dinesh C Sharma
THE LANCET • Vol 358 • December 1, 2001
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.
Brundtland asks North Korean government to spend more on health health care, which currently accounts “We know who are the vulnerable for only 3% of a national budget that is groups. They are pregnant women, skewed towards military spending. children, and people who are malnourThe North and South, which fought a ished so it’s not difficult to explain why bloody war during the mortality rate has 1950–52, have yet to increased considerRights were not sign a peace treaty. ably”, the WHO chief Brundtland’s comsaid. “Malaria, tubergranted to ments underscore the culosis, maternal, and include this sharp deterioration of child illnesses, they are image in the health system in all a great challenge.” North Korea over the Although North electronic media. past decade, which has Korea has been receivPlease refer to been marked by ing aid since 1995, floods, famine, and the WHO officials said life the printed economic isolation was improving only for journal. that followed the colthe privileged residents lapse of the Soviet of Pyongyang. Union. Brundtland said the In the 1960s, UN agency, which has Children need more aid Pyongyang boasted just established a perone of the most advanced health sysmanent headquarters in Pyongyang, tems in the world, providing free would appeal for US$8 million from medical cover for all its citizens. international donors. She also called on the North Korean government to allocate more funds to Jonathan Watts AP
ro Harlem Brundtland, director general of the WHO, warned on Nov 21 that the collapse of North Korea’s health system is increasing mortality rates among women, children, and other vulnerable groups. After her first visit to the capital city, Pyongyang, Brundtland said the international community and the North Korean government needed to provide more resources to rebuild dilapidated hospitals and halt the spread of preventable diseases. “There are many gaps that need to be filled and there are many people who suffer from a lack of medical equipment, drugs, and even infrastructure problems like electricity and water”, she told reporters in Seoul. Brundtland said the number of annual deaths in the reclusive state had increased by almost 40% in the past 7 years from 6·3 per 100 people to 9·3. She said the risks of mortality in North Korea’s 22 million people were spread unevenly.
G
President of Indian medical council found guilty of corruption
I
n an unprecedented judgment on Nov 23, the Delhi High Court, ordered the president of the Medical Council of India (MCI), Ketan Desai, who is also president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), to step down after he was found guilty of corruption. Last year Harish Bhalla, a general practitioner based in Delhi, filed a petition and lawsuit against Desai, which claimed that the head of the MCI was misusing the office by indulging in corrupt practices. MCI is the statutory regulator of medical education in India and has the power to approve new medical colleges, withdraw the licence to teach from current medical colleges, and regulates the number of students in colleges. Indian medical colleges must hold a proportion of places for non-Indian students. If these seats are not filled they may be offered to local students. Private colleges “sell” these seats and the court found that some colleges were doing this in collusion with Desai. “The receipts of these huge amounts of money by Desai and the observations of the Joint Director [Investigation] of the income tax department, that the alleged gifts are ‘make believe arrangements’ and not genuine
1882
gifts establish as correct the allegation of the petitioner that Desai is misusing his office . . . Such a person does not deserve to occupy the high public office”, the two-member bench of Justices Arun Kumar and R C Chopra observed in their 50-page judgment. “We presented to the court photocopies of the bank drafts totalling 6·5 million Indian rupees [US$136 000] paid to Desai, his wife, and two children. These drafts were found during the income tax raid at Desai residence last year in Ahmedabad and are duly certified by income tax authorities. This is the first time such a concrete evidence of corruption has been placed in a court of law and a person convicted”, observed Bhalla. The court has appointed a retired army general as MCI’s interim administrator and has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute Desai. The court also directed B J Medical College in Ahmedabad, where Desai is a professor of urology, to initiate disciplinary action. Desai’s misbehaviour went further. The MCI is supposed to have 128 members. But the court found that Desai had kept this number down to 77 members and about half
were appointed by him. MCI’s regulatory actions are supposed to be taken by an executive committee. However records of committee meetings examined by the court showed that all decisions relating to the recognition, inspection, and admission to colleges were left to the discretion of Desai. “The entire affairs of the council are controlled and managed by its President”, said the judgment. The high profile court case has provoked strong public reaction and newspaper editorials have called the case “medical corruption of India”. However the reaction from the medical establishment has been mixed. “The judgment has no repercussions for IMA and Desai has been elected directly by doctors from all over the country”, said IMA’s general secretary, Sanjiv Malik. The faculty association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences—where Desai heads the selection committee and is a member of the governing council—said it would write a letter of protest against Desai to the health minister. Desai’s lawyers have said that he will appeal. Dinesh C Sharma
THE LANCET • Vol 358 • December 1, 2001
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.