Mint Explainer: Two new bills seek to reform nursing and dentistry

livemint.com:

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, 2023 and the National Dental Commission Bill, 2023, which seek to regulate nursing and dental education and practice. These bills will replace the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947 and the Dentists Act, 1948. The legislative changes are significant as they seek to bring greater transparency and quality to the fields of nursing, midwifery and dentistry.

Mint takes a closer look at the two bills. The bill seeks to regulate and maintain standards of education and services in nursing and midwifery, assess institutions, maintain national and state registers, and create systems to improve access, research and development, and the adoption of technology in nursing and midwifery. The Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947 was enacted to constitute the Indian Nursing Council, which established a standard of training nurses, midwives and other such health workers.

However, the said act went through minimal amendments and ended up limiting the growth of professionals. The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill instead aims to set up a National Nursing and Midwifery Commission (NNMC) to achieve its goals. Quality education in nursing and midwifery is essential to redefine the scope of these professions.

According to the Indian Nursing Council, India had around 33.41 lakh registered nurses as of 2022. The bill seeks to provide quality and affordable dental education, make high-quality dental care widely accessible and bring it at par with global standards. According to the government data, India has 2.89 lakh registered dentists.