Annual Report 2010-2011 the concerned State Governments to give compensation to the victims as well as developing preventive, rehabilitative and remedial measures to deal with the issue of silicosis. A. Better Medical Practices and Health Care Facilities in Tribal Areas 5.5 It was reported in the Annual Report of 2009-2010 that the Commission on 29 January 2010 had convened a one-day meeting of the Health Secretaries of all the States/Union Territories on “Illegal Medical Practices and Health Care Facilities in the Tribal Areas” to ensure that the tribal areas in the country have better access to quality health care. In this meeting that was organized in New Delhi, the officials of States/Union Territories, experts and representatives of civil society organizations recommended/suggested a number of measures which need to be taken up by all the concerned stakeholders to guarantee better health care to those residing in tribal areas. 5.6 The important recommendations/suggestions which emanated out of the deliberations of the meeting are as follows: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) 60 There is a need to adopt a uniform, humane and non-discriminatory approach in the existing public health care system so that the tribal, rural and disadvantaged sections of the society are not deprived of basic medical facilities and health care in the country. An approach of this kind would remove inequalities in health care and ensure that health care is available and accessible to one and all. State Governments/Union Territories should gear up their machinery to take action against illegal medical practitioners and quacks by prosecuting them under the prevalent laws, rules and regulations. Wherever absent, the States/UTs to put in place legal framework for effective action against illegal medical practitioners/quacks. All the States/UTs should put in place a monitoring system for anti-quackery actions. In addition, they should have a system of periodic review of the actions taken on this issue from time to time. In order to check the menace of illegal medical practitioners and quacks, the Central Government should bring out an Anti-Quackery Bill providing provisions for stringent punishment for the people indulging in such medical malpractices. The role of professionals in health care, especially in tribal and rural areas should not be underestimated. The current trend followed in many States/UTs of providing training to illegal practitioners/quacks to upgrade their skills and having doctors with different qualifications to substitute doctors in rural and tribal areas should not be promoted as it is a discriminatory action. Lack of qualified medical and para-medical staff in rural areas provides an opportunity to quacks to exploit people. Therefore, qualified medical and para-medical staff should be provided in rural areas and special incentives may be provided to encourage them to work in rural areas. There should be a review of the existing Acts, Rules and Regulations by the Central Government and the same should be suitably amended to provide for a strong legal framework for an effective and speedy action against malpractices in health care system. Inaccessibility to health care is not the only problem in tribal areas as different tribals living in different geographical regions have peculiar and specific problems related to their environment. NHRC