Thiruvananthapuram: As part of the nationwide protest by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), barring emergency services, COVID care activities and ICU, all other medical activities have come to a standstill in Kerala on Friday. The day long protests began at 6 am and would continue till 6 pm.

The nationwide shutdown called by the IMA is to protest against the Centre's move to allow Ayurveda doctors to perform surgery.

Consequent to it, the call given by the Kerala unit of the IMA saw even private clinics downing their shutters. The Kerala unit has also asked its members not to open even one's personal clinics, attached to their residence.

Across the state the medical professionals are organising protests keeping in view the COVID protocols.

It was last month, the Centre issued a notification which authorises post-graduate practitioners in specified streams of Ayurveda to be trained to perform surgical procedures such as excisions of benign tumours, amputation of gangrene, nasal and cataract surgeries.

The notification listed 39 general surgery procedures and around 19 procedures involving the eye, ear, nose and throat by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had given the nation-wide call on December 1, has demanded withdrawal of the notification.

Doctors of AIIMS, other hospitals join protest with black ribbons

Many doctors at several hospitals in the national capital, including AIIMS, on Friday sported black ribbons in support of the protest call of the IMA against the Centre's move allowing post graduate practitioners of Ayurveda to be trained in performing surgical procedures.

Doctors at AIIMS, and various Delhi government-run facilities, including LNJP Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, GTB Hospital, BSA Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi MemorialHospital, and civic-run Hindu Rao Hospital performed duties while wearing black armbands and ribbons.

The Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS-Delhi, in a statement said, "This step will not only encourage already rampant quackery, but also undermine the safety of public. We request the government of India to retract this notification immediately".

"We stand with our medical fraternity in this regard and support the strike called by Indian Medical Association," it said.

Shivaji Deb Barman, president of FORDA, an apex bodies of various RDAs in Delhi, said, doctors in Delhi will observe black ribbon protest, but "will not withdraw any services".

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)