The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is a national

voluntary organisation A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...

of physicians in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It was established in 1928 as the All India Medical Association, and was renamed the Indian Medical Association in 1930. It is a society registered under The Societies Act of India.

Background

The Indian Medical Association has approximately 350,000 member doctors in 1,700 active local branches in 29 states and union territories in India. It is the largest association of medical doctors in India. Previously stationed out of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, the IMA is headquartered in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. Local branches send representatives to a central council which meets annually. The council delegates to a working committee that represents all state branches and meets at least three times a year. The Indian Medical Association is one of the 27 founder members of the

World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 18, 1947 and has grown to 115 national m ...

, joining in 1948. The IMA left the organization in 1985 due to the WMA's retention of South Africa, then a practitioner of apartheid. The IMA rejoined the WMA in 1993. A Reuters investigative report from 2015 found that the IMA had incorrectly told the WMA that charges of corruption brought by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and government ...

against former IMA president Ketan Desai had been withdrawn. The IMA has expressed opposition to integrated medicine or the mixing together of systems of medicine in curriculum, practice and research in India, often by using the term "mixopathy". The IMA has held a number of nationwide protests. These have included several protests between November 2016 and March 2017 that objected to bills raised toward the creation of the

National Medical Commission National Medical Commission (NMC) is an Indian regulatory body of 33 members which regulates medical education and medical professionals. It replaced the Medical Council of India on 25 September 2020. The Commission grants recognition of medi ...

which replaced the Medical Council of India on 25 September 2020. In December 2020, approximately one million doctors attended a day-long strike organized by the IMA to protest a federal government rule that allows practitioners of the Indian system of medicine

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

to perform minor surgeries. In early 2021, the IMA held a two-week nationwide hunger strike to protest the government's support for surgical training for postgraduate students of Ayurveda. In 2022, Sahajanand Prasad Singh was listed as the national president for the organization. Singh was preceded in the post by surgeon J. A. Jayalal from 2020-2021. Longtime member and cardiologist K. K. Aggarwal held several posts within the IMA including president. Ketan Desai served as the organization's head from 2001-2003 following a period when he had been found guilty by

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

of corrupt practices and

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

''Journal of the Indian Medical Association''

The ''Journal of the Indian Medical Association'', (JIMA), is indexed in the

Index Medicus ''Index Medicus'' (''IM'') is a curated subset of MEDLINE, which is a bibliographic database of life science and biomedical science information, principally scientific journal articles. From 1879 to 2004, ''Index Medicus'' was a comprehensi ...

. Published monthly, JIMA has over 240,000 subscribers for its electronic version and is also available in microfilm through Bell & Howels, US. JIMA was founded in 1930 by Sir Nilratan Sircar,

Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician, educationist, and statesman who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 until his death in 1962. Roy played a key role in the founding of several institutio ...

, Kumud Sankar Ray, and others in

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1928 establishments in India Medical associations based in India Organizations established in 1928

Background

''Journal of the Indian Medical Association''

See also

References

External links