Doctors, owing allegiance to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), staged a protest wearing masks and displaying banners with the messages: ‘Save the Saviours’ and ‘Save the Doctors’ at the Gandhi statue, near the GVMC, here on Friday.
The call for the nationwide protests was given by the IMA to condemn the growing attacks on doctors and healthcare staff all over the country. The doctors raised slogans and appealed to people to support their cause.
The CPI(M), Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV) and AP Medical and Sales Representatives Union (APMSRU) have extended their solidarity to the protest.
CPI(M) State Secretariat Member Ch. Narasinga Rao, CPI(M) district and city committee secretaries K. Lokanadham and B. Ganga Rao condemned the growing attacks on doctors in Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, U.P., Delhi and Karnataka. They noted that since the outbreak of COVID-19, doctors and healthcare workers were discharging their duties under severe stress. The pressure on them reached its peak during the second wave, the CPI(M) leaders said.
Quoting IMA statistics, the CPI(M) leaders said that 700 doctors have died in discharge of their duties, during the second wave. They alleged that the Central and the State governments have failed to address the problem of shortage of doctors.
The CPI(M) leaders said that the attacks on doctors would ultimately harm society at large. They also appealed to doctors to view healthcare as a ‘service’. There should be proper monitoring of corporate hospitals, which were charging exorbitantly from patients and increase in budget on medicine, they said.
Praja Arogya Vedika general secretary T. Kameswara Rao and president M.V. Ramanayya noted that it was unfortunate that doctors, who were trying to save the lives of COVID-19 patients risking their own lives, were being attacked. They sought increase in the health budget and recruitment of doctors, based on the need.
Andhra Pradesh Medical and Sales Representatives Union Visakhapatnam branch secretary M. Satish Kumar and president Shekar also expressed their solidarity with the doctors and condemned the attacks on them.
