Health Bulletin 25/July/ 2025

Highlighting the violation of Supreme Court Judgments on the disability guidelines for MBBS admissions, the doctors with disabilities have written to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), demanding an urgent rectification in the guidelines to avoid contempt of the Apex Court.

Previously, emphasising the need for an inclusive environment for individuals with disabilities in medical education, the Apex Court had issued directions to the National Medical Commission to formulate new disability guidelines for MBBS admissions.

Based on this, recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) notified Interim Guidelines outlining the Assessment Method for admitting PwBD candidates to the MBBS course in the Academic Year 2025-2026.

Bringing good news to the medical aspirants in Andhra Pradesh, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has allowed full seats in the five newly launched medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

Even though the Apex Medical Commission noted some deficiencies, including vacant faculty positions, it decided to renew 150 MBBS seats in each of the five new medical colleges, which were launched in 2023-2024.

However, NMC has directed the State Government to ensure that all the faculty positions are filled without any delay, TOI has reported.

The Government found that at least 15-20 per cent of assistant, associate, and professor rank posts were lying vacant, particularly in the new medical colleges. According to the available information, about 25-30 posts of Professor are vacant against the total requirement of 114 Professors in all 14 government medical colleges.

The Central government has given its in-principle approval to convert six district hospitals in Jharkhand into medical college hospitals through a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. This announcement was made by Sudivya Kumar, the state minister for higher and technical education, following a meeting with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda in New Delhi on Wednesday.

In an announcement made via his official X account, Kumar stated that a proposal was submitted to Nadda to convert Sadar hospitals in Dhanbad, Deoghar, Khunti, Giridih, Jamtara, and East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) into fully functional medical colleges through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The initiative aims to expand access to tertiary healthcare and meet the growing demand for medical professionals in the state.

"During the discussion, Kumar advocated for swift approvals and financial assistance from the Centre to facilitate the timely implementation of the projects, highlighting that these medical colleges would not only enhance healthcare delivery but also generate opportunities," read a statement from his office, reports TOI.

A suspected kidney transplant racket has come to light in Namakkal, where a broker allegedly targeted poor textile workers, lured them into selling their kidneys for money at two private hospitals - Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital in Perambalur and Cethar Hospitals in Trichy.

The donors were secretly taken to private hospitals, admitted as patients, and kept for a week to undergo the transplant in exchange for amounts ranging from Rs 5 to 10 lakh. After the procedure, they were handed over the money, which helped them to repay their debts. The brokers specifically targeted vulnerable and poor individuals who were in urgent need of money.

Adding to the concern, the authorities are also questioning the quality of the donated kidneys. Investigators suspect that the middlemen supplied poor donors to recipients under the guise of false familial relationships. However, the involvement of the hospitals and transplant surgeons in the racket remains unclear, and an investigation is currently underway.