India’s top medical association has called for a nationwide protest on Friday against assaults on doctors after hundreds of cases of violence against healthcare workers were reported throughout the country during the second wave of Covid-19.

As many as 35,000 doctors of the Indian Medical Association Tamil Nadu branch joined the nation-wide protest demanding a central legislation to protect hospitals and healthcare professionals from violence.

The IMA had called for the protest against recent incidents of violence against healthcare professionals in different parts of the country, the protest with the slogan ''Save the Saviors'' was peaceful and it did not affect the services in the hospitals, according to Dr A K Ravikumar honorary state secretary of IMA.  No medical services were withdrawn or patient care interrupted during the protest, which strictly followed the covid lockdown protocols. About 5,000 hospitals and clinics, which are members of the IMA, participated in the day-long protest today.

Urging Chief Minister M K Stalin to support their cause for a central legislation similar to the Act 48 of 2008, IMA state president Dr P Ramakrishnan and Dr Ravikumar pointed out that Tamil Nadu was the second state to come out with such an act to protect the medical professionals and hospitals from violence. Acts of violence were happening at regular intervals in various states of India and even women were nor spared, they said.

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