Hyderabad: The second wave of Covid-19 in Telangana state took a heavy toll on lives, with as many as 1,672 people dying from the disease.
Of these, at least 34 were doctors and every one of these medical professionals either died of Covid-19 or post-Covid-19 complications, according to the Indian Medical Association. With the general agreement being that the Covid-19 second wave took hold from April, this means in Telangana, one doctor died from Covid-19 every two days between April 1 and June 6.
The IMA said that in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, 35 doctors have lost their lives to Covid-19 in the second wave so far.
The highest number of deaths – 109 — among doctors in Covid-19 second wave were in Delhi, the IMA said.
Doctors who lost their lives in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic should be recognised as ‘Covid martyrs’ with due acknowledgment of their sacrifice, the IMA said, adding that their families must be supported by the government. Though insurance benefits were extended to families of doctors who lost their lives battling Covid-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, only 168 families of the 754 that lost a doctor to the disease were able to apply under the scheme.
The IMA in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged him to create an effective mechanism for identifying and verifying all these victims through the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) and also ensure that the support is given to the affected families as solatium at their door steps.
Taking aim at the likes of Baba Ramdev who had made critical comments on doctors practicing Allopathic medicine, the IMA asked the Prime Minister that any person who spreads misinformation against the vaccination drive which is meant to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, must be punished under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
All such acts on behalf of “any person raising doubts in the minds of the common public against the protocol guidance issued by Ministry of Health for treatment of Covid-19 patients ought to be punished and any attempt of any person to fool gullible public and promote so-called ‘magic remedies’ or ‘wonder drugs’ without the approval of the Ministry of Health, Government of India, must be immediately curtailed,” the IMA told the Prime Minister.
