FM AUGUST 2018 ISSUE1 - digital edition

Merck ties up with TMC to train
African oncologists
as cancer care continues to be a big
challenge to many African countries.
Initiated by Merck Foundation, a notfor-profit
organisation of Merck KgaA of
Germany. The program aims to increase
the number of qualified oncologists across
the African continent.
The fellowship programme will be
followed up by another year of
mentorship where the newly trained
oncologists will be guided by TMC
doctors in cancer care through a
multidisciplinary disease management
approach. A Tumour Board, along
with various specialists involved in
multidisciplinary care would deliberate
on individual cancer cases to decide the
best possible treatment.
T
he Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a
premier centre of excellence in
cancer care in India, and Merck
Foundation have signed a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) to impart
training for oncologists from Africa.
The Merck Africa Oncology Fellowship
Programme will give a year-long training
for oncologists at TMC free of cost
As per the MoU, as many as fifty
oncologists from the African continent
will get trained at TMC over the next
two years.
Launched in 2016, over 30 candidates
from more than 15 African countries
have enrolled in the Merck Oncology
Fellowship Programme. - FM
Delhi govt to regulate functioning of private hospitals
T
he Delhi government is in the
process of framing guidelines to
curb the practice of arbitrarily
charging patients.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain
announced the draft policy to regulate
the functioning of private hospitals.
The draft lists out amendments
proposed by an expert committee to
the Delhi Nursing Homes Registration
Rules. Clinical establishments in the
National Capital Territory of Delhi can
bill patients for non-essential drugs,
disposables and consumables.
A nine-member committee was
constituted by the AAP government
to monitor the functioning of private
hospitals in the national capital.
As per the proposal, private hospitals and
nursing homes should limit their profit
margins from medicines and consumables
to not more than 50 per cent.
The draft policy prohibits hospitals
from refusing to hand over bodies over
pending bills.
Clinical establishments in the region
should also ensure that rates of surgery
packages should be transparent,
without any hidden charges, and
should disclose whether it covers any
complications during the procedure,
Jain said.
The draft also proposes the doctors at
private hospitals and nursing homes
preferably prescribe drugs from the
National List of Essential Medicines
(NLEM) - FM
AUGUST 2018/ FUTURE MEDICINE / 81