PRESS RELEASE FROM THE INDIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IAP)
14 July, 2017
THE INDIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS (IAP) TO ORGANISE AMARAN ANASHAN ( INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE) AT JANTAR MANTAR, NEW DELHI FROM 16TH JULY,2017 FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL INDEPENDENT PHYSIOTHERAPY COUNCIL IN LINE WITH MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA (MCI) AND DENTAL COUNCIL OF INDIA (DCI).
The Indian Association of Physiotherapists ( IAP) is organising Amaran Anashan Indefinite Hunger Strike) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 16th July,2017 for establishment of central independent physiotherapy council .Nearly 4,000 Physiotherapists from across India are expected to participate in the event.
Physiotherapy is an extremely important healthcare profession in present era. Physiotherapy course started in India in 1953, after 64 years also there is no council to regulate the profession.At present in India there are 296 Colleges offering undergraduate (B.P.T) Physiotherapy program consisting of 4 ½ years and 116 Colleges offering Masters in Physiotherapy (M.P.T) with 2 years duration. PhD programme of 4 years duration in Physiotherapy is offered at 16 Colleges and 11 Universities in our country.
There are 65,000 qualified Physiotherapists practicing all over India and at present there are 35,000 physiotherapy students in India . Till now we have no Central Council for Physiotherapy to regulate the profession and look into professional issues.
Formation of a Central Physiotherapy council will do following good for society.
1.Establish proper standard of Physiotherapy profession, practice and education.
2. Regularize the system of registration, recognition, standard, quality of education in Physiotherapy.
3. Check the unprofessional practice/quackery in Physiotherapy by untrained professional.
4. Give Physiotherapy its due professional status in the field of Health Care Facility and Health Science.
5.The council would create better rehabilitation and health care delivery services for the people of India.
IAP has been submitting several memorandums to Ministers and Elected representatives but there is no progress in UPA or NDA governments. During the present NDA Govt we have organized three massive Satyagrahas so far ( Dandi on June 19th,2016; Jantar mantar, Delhi on December 4th,2017; Varanasi on March 26th,2017) and filed several petitions to PMO, Health Minister. After observing no progress in our legitimate demands the we are organizing amaran Anshan at jantar mantar, Delhi from July 16th,2017 onwards.
As per World Health Organisation Physiotherapists are defined independent healthcare professionals to assess , plan and treat. The definition is "Physiotherapists assess, plan and implement rehabilitative programs that improve or restore human motor functions, maximize movement ability, relieve pain syndromes, and treat or prevent physical challenges associated with injuries, diseases and other impairments. They apply a broad range of physical therapies and techniques such as movement, ultrasound, heating, laser and other techniques. They may develop and implement programmes for screening and prevention of common physical ailments and disorders".
Even in elite sports like cricket the fitness certificate of player is issued by a Physiotherapist. This itself is direct testimony for professional independence.
There are 2,38,619 research articles indexed in Pubmed and several scientific documents of Cochrane collaboration proving the efficacy of Physiotherapy treatments in various ailments of Joints, Muscles, Ligaments, Brain Stroke, Parkinson’ disease, Low back Pain, Neck Pain, Arthritis and sports professionals.
According to census 2001 the elderly population in rural area is 12.2 million, and 31.8 million in urban area. There is no facility of physiotherapy in rural area. There are total 90 million elderly persons in India, which as per 2011 census are expected to grow to 173 million by 2026. In year 2001, 7.4% of total population was elderly.
About 64 per thousand elderly person in rural and 55 per thousand in urban area suffer from one or more physical disabilities. Most common disability among the aged person was locomotor disability which shows a continued rise in the numbers suffering from it.
Bad posture, neck and back pain, static posture while working for long hours etc. put more stress on human body and are mainly responsible for decreased fitness. These further lead to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, respiratory, musculo-skeletal and coronary artery diseases which may cause even stroke during the productive years of human life. Cases or such diseases or life style and increasing use of certain technological appliances are also growing and the trend if not prevented may adversely affect the demographic advantage.
According to a report by the Harvard School of public health, the economic burden of ailments of this type for India will be close to US$6.2 trillion for the period of 2012-2030. As these diseases affect the person in the productive years they cause immense loss of work days as well put immense pressure on public health expenditure. This is further escalated by the side effects of the drugs and needs to incur further expanses is for their further treatment.
As the role of the Physiotherapist is preeminent in society and there are so many colleges running under reputed Universities establishment of Central Physiotherapy Council is definitely important and need of the hour.
From IAP we are hopeful that with our efforts of Amaran Anshan we will draw the attention of Central Government to establish Central Physiotherapy Council for Physiotherapists at the earliest for the betterment of society at large.
We need maximum support of the Press and Media for the genuine protest of Physiotherapists to Establish Central Physiotherapy Council.
Kindly Circulate the information to Press and Media. This above information can be used by every Physiotherapist/Physio student for news material.
Srikant Sikatia with Einstein Jerome II and 13 others from Dibrugarh said that,"Independent Physiotherapy Council is the need of the hour to make this all important part of healthcare more potent and regulate the practice and teaching standards.This has been raised time and again but no heed has been paid. So its time to fight for it.We,the physiotherapy fraternity support the Amaran Anshan by our respected president Umashankar Mohanty sir at Jantar Mantar. Hope the Govt. act wise this time and fulfill our genuine demands. Ache din for us is the Independent physio Council and nothing less is acceptable. Hope this day turns historic for all of us. This day 16th july is also significant as I complete 5 years into practice. #wewantindependentcouncil #councilforphysio #pmo #weallareunited #divineprofession #duerecognitionawaited".
Given below are the facebook links to listen the powerful thoughts from different physios from different states of India.
https://www.facebook.com/lkpcc/videos/1710870849208452/
https://www.facebook.com/drnimesh.matliwala/videos/1798410550175962/
https://www.facebook.com/DrAshutosh.Gkp/videos/1643439902346357/
https://www.facebook.com/rashme.pawar/videos/10210242544205627/
Shiv Sena MP Shri Sanjay Raut Saheb came to Jantar Mantar and assured of independent physiotherapy council. Gave water to Dr Umasankar Mohanty Sir . Best day till day for our profession.
Together we all Physios and Physio students of India will definitely make Central Physiotherapy Council in present Govt. Please come and join in maximum numbers without fail. It is now or never. Please meet Member of Parliament of the place you reside and take letter addressed to Honorable PM to form Central Physiotherapy Council.
For participating in the most important revolutionary non violent movement, Certificate will be issued to all the participants for their selfless professional contribution to Physiotherapy profession.
Kindly share the information.
Dr. Umasankar Mohanty, MPT,PhD
President, The Indian Association of Physiotherapists.
https://www.facebook.com/umasankar.mohanty/videos/10155666923821929/