A bill on legal status of medical professionals with six chapters and 39 articles is being developed for the first time.

It sets regulations for doctors’ reputation, ethics, responsibility, social security and professional licenses, and the functions and organization of medical professionals’ self-governing bodies. The bill states a new term, a professional self-governing body of medical professionals.

Lawmaker J.Chinburen said, “There are national medical committees in some countries, which are responsible for protecting the rights of medical professionals, supporting their education, ensuring the right of patients to health protection, and advising on improving the sector’s policy and legal environment. In particular, China established it in 1915, India in 1928, and the UK in 1832. As a result, 115 countries joined to form the World Medical Association. However, there is no such committee in Mongolia, and there is no professional, unified and self-governing non-governmental organization, so it has not been able to join the association.”

The committee will be referred to in the bill as Chamber of Medical Professionals. The chamber will be responsible for protecting the professional reputation and legitimate interests of doctors, approving their code of ethics, and increasing their knowledge and skills. It will also conduct inspections of medical professionals’ licenses, conduct inspections of such licenses, and submit proposals to the Ministry of Health to revoke the licenses. The chamber will have a charter, a president, a council and committees, and will be funded through membership and examination fees.

The bill also stipulates ethical principles of medical professionals, which are respect for human rights, humane compassion, honesty, fairness, equal treatment, non-discrimination, education, accountability and participation. Doctors now follow the Code of Conduct for Medical Professionals approved by the minister of health. The principles of the code are also reflected in the bill.

With approval of the bill, doctors will be obliged to keep confidentiality of client’s health, not use their profession and skills against human health, not refuse to provide services based on their advantages, and not spread false information.