Govt agrees on medical council

Govt agrees on medical council

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

The House's health commission made some progress in its deliberation of the medical practice bill on Monday by approving a role for the medical council in registering general practitioners and dentists.

Mariani Reksoprodjo, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, said the House legislators initially proposed that the council register medical workers.

"However, all finally agreed that the definition of medical workers would also cover general practitioners and dentists," she said.

The government had previously opposed this. Currently, registration is carried out by the health ministry, which is also authorized to issue practice licenses for newly qualified doctors.

The House initiated bill also gives the council the authority to set professional standards for doctors/dentists, formulate policy directions for medical science, and conduct supervision over medical practices.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi insisted that the job of setting educational standards for doctors and dentists be given to their respective professional associations.

The task of formulating policy directions could be managed by the ministry's science and technology commission.

Meanwhile, Sujudi said the task of supervising medical practices should be reserved to the professional organizations.

The government originally proposed limiting the role of the medical council to only providing advice to the government on policies related to the practice of medicine.

It was also prepared to allow the medical council to synchronize regulations so as to improve the quality of the country's health service.

Last week, however, the country's medical associations and legislators demanded that the medical council be established as an independent body in order to protect the public interest.

"This is in line with the bill on the principles of medical practice, which are to protect the people, to provide guidelines for doctors and to strengthen medical institutions and associations," Indonesian Doctors Association chairman Farid Anfasa Moeloek told a hearing with House members.