AHMEDABAD: NRI doctors will soon be able to bridge — to some extent — the gap created by the shortage of 17 lakh doctors in the country. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is going to sign an MoU with Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO) to facilitate their short-stint practice in India.

Currently, only Indian citizens are allowed to practice in the country, while NRI doctors are permitted to work only for teaching, research and charitable purposes with prior approval of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

Addressing the 89th national conference on IMA NATCON 2014 here on Saturday, World Medical Association president Dr Ketan Desai said: "The Centre will put the draft of new health policy in public domain in January first week. The government has assured us that we will also be consulted for policy drafting and not just implementation."

With stricter health policy and norms on cards, Dr K K Aggarwal who on Sunday took over as IMA honorary secretary general said: "We will have a digital code of conduct next year restricting advertisement on social media and will also restrict doctors from adding patients in FB friends list. Plus, there will be a cap on e-consultations. We will send a draft of IMA proposals to the Centre in January."

To curb corruption, IMA is drafting ethical and unethical code of conducts. "Only medicine samples will be allowed. If a doctor is found accepting any other gift, his licence will be suspended... We have proposed a uniform code for doctors, pharma firms and corporate houses. If corporate houses don not follow the norms, we will boycott them," he said, adding that there will be restriction on irrational prescription of drugs by medicos.

IMA, along with healthcare foundation of India, will also provide financial support to any girl having congenital heart defects.