Hundreds of doctors of Indian origin came together under the banner of Global Indian Physicians COVID-19 Collaborative on Saturday to share knowledge and foster cross-system learning in the fight against COVID-19.
Addressing the first virtual meeting of the collaborative, Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals, and founder-president of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), said that the pandemic was unlike anything he has seen in his 65 years of practicing as a doctor.
Stressing on the need for collaboration by breaking all barriers, he said that the pandemic had made medical professionals realise their amazing ability to find solutions in record time.
Indian response
Vinod K. Paul, NITI Aayog member and co-chair of the Empowered Committee for COVID-19 Response in India, said that India’s response has been calibrated, graded, and it was yielding results.
On the availability of PPEs, he said that the present availability was adequate for the present situation and in a matter of two to three weeks, the availability of PPEs would be sufficient to cater to even worst-case and extreme scenarios.
He said that India was also focusing on developing vaccines for COVID-19, with four possible vaccine candidates being worked on in four of the country’s laboratories.
Sudhir Parikh, secretary general of GAPIO, expressed hope that convalescent plasma therapy would prove to be an effective treatment for COVID-19 and highlighted, in the American context, the need for creating a database of persons who had recovered from COVID-19, for plasma donation.
Patrice A. Harris, president, American Medical Association, highlighted the need for increased collaboration at international, national and local levels, and accurate data collection.
“For instance, the African-American population seemed to be disproportionately affected by the disease. However, we do not have data at the national level,” she said.
Kamlesh Khunti, director, Centre for Black and Minority Ethnic Health in the U.K., said that early data had indicated that South Asians and Black minorities were disproportionately affected by the disease in the U.K. as well.
