New Delhi: More than 1000 medical practitioners in India have died due to Covid19 infections, according to the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Talking to ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, IMA president Dr JA Jayalal said that the current second wave has taken the lives of 244 medical practitioners. “The number of such deaths has been increasing on a regular basis,” he said.
He said that 756 doctors and physicians died in the first wave of Covid19 pandemic last year.
“Reports of such casualties are coming from across India. However, it’s heartbreaking to note that the government has not recognized them as martyrs,” he stated.
Statistics from the IMA said that with 69 deaths, Bihar is leading the list registering maximum casualties among doctors.
Among other states, 34 medical practitioners died in Uttar Pradesh, 27 in Delhi, 21 in Andhra Pradesh, 19 in Telangana, 13 in Maharashtra and 10 in Tamil Nadu. The age group of the physicians varies from 25 to 70 years.
“The actual numbers may be higher as the doctors’ association keeps a record of its 3.5 lakh members,” he added.
India’s medical fraternity of 1,20,1354 allopathic and 7.88 lakh Ayush doctors have currently been serving the Covid19 patients directly or indirectly. As per an estimate made by the IMA, only 66 percent of India’s total healthcare workers has been fully vaccinated.
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Dr Jayalal said that the doctor fraternity has been sacrificing lives but the government has adopted a dual approach to facilitate the doctors.
“The government has announced Rs 50 lakh as insurance for all government healthcare workers including doctors but the government on the other hand did nothing for the all-private medical practitioners who are treating Covid patients,” he pointed out.
The IMA on several occasions submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan urging them to extend similar benefits to all private medical practitioners.
The IMA said that people mostly go to private hospitals to treat Covid-19.
Echoing the same view, Dr Giridhar Gyani, director general of the Association of Healthcare Workers (AHCP-India) and a senior public health expert said that the government should provide the same facilities to private doctors as well.
“Both private and government doctors are doing the same duty while treating Covid19 patients. In fact, people approach the private doctors more in comparison to the government doctors,” said Gyani.
The central government, last year, had announced a scheme under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) to compensate health care workers who died in the line of duty. As per the scheme, for a private healthcare provider to be covered under the scheme, he or she must be drafted or requisitioned by the State and Centre for COVID-19-related responsibilities.
