MFC ANNUAL MEET 2003

The Medico Friend Circle (MFC) is an all-India group of socially conscious individuals from diverse backgrounds, who have come together with a common concern for health. Members of the MFC are primarily medical, public health and social science professionals, researchers as well as community health and gender activists. For more than 29 years, MFC has critically   analysed the existing health care system and has tried to evolve an appropriate approach towards health care that is humane and which can meet the needs of the vast majority of people in the country. MFC offers a forum for dialogue/debate and sharing of experiences with the aim of realising its goals and for taking up issues of common concern for action.

 The MFC Annual Meet – 2003 is going to be held at Jeevan-Darshan, Baroda, between 28 to 30 December 2002.

The Meet will focus on Communalism, Conflict and Role of Medical/Health Professionals.

 The events over the past one year in Gujarat have brought several processes into sharp focus that necessitate a deeper introspection about the health profession as a whole, as well as its position, role and response in conflict situations such as Gujarat.  Following the Godhra train massacre on February 27, in systematic and gruesome attacks unleashed against the Muslim community, some 2000 people lost their lives and an even larger number were seriously injured. Over one lakh people were forced into relief camps and today, these too are being forcibly shut down. Several fact-finding teams have visited the affected areas and have reported the active participation of various state agencies in perpetuating the communal bloodbath. The obvious State complicity and neglect has made it extremely difficult for victims to secure any justice or even the paltry sums of compensations offered by the government.

 In a situation where the entire state machinery stands implicated, timely, appropriate and non-discriminatory medical care assumes critical importance, and it is the response of the health services that determines the fate of affected people. While these issues are automatically addressed during a natural disaster, in a crisis like Gujarat, however, where social institutions break down and there is external pressure on professionals, the provision of medical care is threatened by more than access.

 The response from health groups for relief work and medical assistance for the riot victims has been poor, to say the least. Moreover, and more disturbingly, there has been what appears to be a passive approval as well as active participation of a section of the medical profession, in the violence. This has created a sharp polarization within the profession. Besides, the refusal of bodies representing the medical profession to even comment on the behaviour of some of their members has been shocking and inexcusable.

 Hence, as a network focusing on health issues, Medico Friend Circle strongly feels the need to engage in a debate on the relationship between Communalism, the State and the role of medical profession.

 The MFC Annual Meet – 2003 will focus on the following issues:

• Social responsibility of health/medical professionals in any situation of mass conflict and communal polarisation
• Impact of the violence on health/medical professionals – as victims, participants and as a social group.
• Is the profession neutral? Or is there communalisation of the profession. In that situation, how does one judge neutrality?
• Codes, protocols, ethical guidelines for role and response of medical professions in conflict situation
• Difficulties in  addressing medico-legal issues.
• The role of medical profession in the process of securing justice for the survivors through documentation of medical evidence and as expert advisors.
• State and medical response to the physical and mental health care needs of survivors   of mass violence, especially survivors of sexual assault.

 We invite papers based on the above themes. The last date of submission is November 10, 2002. Relevant papers will be published in the Medico Friend Circle Bulletin. For details about submission of papers and participation in the meet, please contact:

 N. B. Sarojini,

Convener, Medico Friend Circle,

1st Floor, J-59, Saket,

 New Delhi 110017.

 E-mail: saromfc@vsnl.net

 Ph: +91 11 6968 972, 6562401

 MFC website:  www.mfcindia.org

 Please note, however, that written papers/paper presentations are not a prerequisite for participation at MFC meets. Anybody interested in the above issues is invited to attend the meet. MFC is not a funded organization and neither does it raise funds for conducting its meetings.