Dieticians demand a dietetic council for India
October 28th, 2011 - 11:29 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) Dieticians from all across India have approached the health ministry for constituting a regulatory body for dieticians that will monitor the existing practices in the country, experts said Friday.
“Currently, nutritionists and dieticians in India do not follow any regulatory mechanism that can streamline the practices they follow to treat patients. India is under the burden of non-communicable diseases, and this is becoming a money-minting profession also,” said Anuja Agarwal, president of the India Dietetic Association’s (IDA) Delhi chapter.
“We will be giving a draft to the health ministry in a time of 2-3 weeks. We have already approached them,” Agarwal, from the department of paediatrics at AIIMS, said ahead of the 3-day annual national conference of the IDA in the capital.
The way to become a dietician in India is through attaining a master’s degree in nutrition from a recognised university/college registered under the University Grants Commission (UGC).
“Government hospitals go by a defined way of recruitment for dieticians. But a private hospital might go slack in the process of recruitment,” said Rekha Sharma, national president of the IDA and former dietician from AIIMS.
The IDA demanded for an enrollment mechanism and a working system for dieticians on the lines of Medical Council of India (MCI) for doctors. The council for dieticians would be known as Indian Dietetic Council.
The council is likely to give teeth to the standards of practice - ensuring a unified standard to manage pay scales, facilitating educational institutions with trained practitioners in the domain of food and nutrition, and have a credit system for registered dieticians who pass exam on completing academic workshops and internships at government hospitals.
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