The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gave a notification regarding the rules for enforcing the act on 27 May 2021, 2 and temporary National Commission was given a notification under the act on 21 September 2021. 3 Rules for enforcing the different provisions of the act were yet to be notified as of 15 May 2023.
NCAHP Act has been established in order to oversee and ensure standards of training and care provided by allied and healthcare professionals in the nation. Various provisions have been made in the act in the direction of the same aim, for instance, central and state professional registers, code of conduct, entrance tests, curriculum standardization, etc. 4 Two sets of professionals, i.e., "healthcare professional" and "allied health professional," are defined by the act and identify 56 professional titles which are categorized in ten recognized types.
Health professional is employed in the act as an individual researching, counseling, studying, supervising, or offering a range of health services, such as prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and promotion. Allied health professional refers to an individual trained to execute technical and practical work in aiding diagnosis, treatment, and referring plan issued by a medical, nursing, or other health professional. 4 The term healthcare professional is standard for education provided under undergraduate degree courses, and allied health professionals standard for diploma courses provided in India.
Regulation of education and practice within such professions has been necessary for a long time, 6 and the present legislation in keeping with those standards set internationally. Some of the professionals included in the act have been embraced by its members.7–9 Others, however, have had some concerns over it expressed by some professional organizations and scholars.10,11 The article examines the NCAHP Act from an educational and practice perspective in India and presents some controversial issues which would have to be considered while implementing the provisions of the act.
