Talking to UNI here, IMA president V C Patel said that he was opposed to the implementation of the Act, now pending for Presidential consent, as medicine prices would increase considerably.

Stating that more than 30 crore people in this country were living below the poverty line, he said that it would become impossible for them even to purchase an anti-fever tablet, the cost of which would become Rs 8 to Rs 10 per tablet, instead of its present cost of 50 paisa.

Pointing out that more than 15 lakh quacks were active in the country, Dr Patel said State Governments should bring a comprehensive legislation to prevent unregistered and unqualified persons from practicing allopathic medicine.

The Delhi Government was first to introduce such a legislation to root out more than 30,000 quacksactive in the National Capital, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala were in the process of implementing the legislation. The IMA was persuading other states to enact such a legislation, he added.

Dr Patel said the country was now producing about 23,000 doctors every year and till this year, there were about eight lakh medical practitioners in the country. ``We require more qualified medical practitioners, particularly in rural areas,''he added.

He said only 30 per cent of the patients were provided treatment in Government-run medical agencies and the remaining 70 per cent of the 100 crore population have to depend on other agencies for medical facilities.

Opposing 18 types of taxation imposed by various State Governments on nursing homes, the IMA president said a single window tax collection by one nodal Government agency would help minimise many problems.

Dr Patel said there was no harm in the recently introduced Medical Council of India (MCI) rules to make it compulsory for every doctor below the age of 65years to go for a minimum 30 hours certificate course after every five years. The MCI should execute this re-certification course through the IMA, he added.