The National Medical Commission (NMC) recently retracted its 2024 Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum after widespread protests from LGBTQ and disability rights groups. The new guidelines, criticized as “ableist and transphobic,” violated both the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPDA) 2016 and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Activists argued that the curriculum labeled “sodomy” and “lesbianism” as sexual offenses and removed critical disability rights education, violating previous court rulings.
Despite the NMC’s claim that the new curriculum was designed to be learner-centric and gender-sensitive, activists highlighted its failure to integrate human rights and the needs of disabled and transgender individuals. The retraction followed the threat of an appeal to the World Federation for Medical Education to suspend NMC’s recognition.
The NMC has promised to revise and release updated guidelines soon. This incident underscores the importance of inclusivity in medical education and the sensitivity required to address the needs of marginalized communities.
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