By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) are unable to agree on the the number of doctors who died due to Covid-19 over the two years – 2020 to 2022 – when the pandemic ravaged India.
While the union health ministry in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said they have no data on the number of doctors who have died during Covid, the IMA, a national organisation of physicians with over 3 lakh members, said over 1600 doctors died during the pandemic.
In a written reply, Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said “disaggregated data on deaths due to Covid-19 by profession or otherwise is not maintained centrally.”
She said as of July 23, a total of 5,25,997 deaths due to Covid-19 (including those of doctors and healthcare workers) have been reported in the country.
The minister was answering a written question on the number of doctors and health workers who have died since March 2020.
ALSO READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar tests positive for COVID-19, isolates self at home
However, IMA national president Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh said they have prepared an entire list of doctors – described as Covid warriors and feted by the central government – who have died during the three Covid waves.
According to IMA, in the first wave, 757 doctors died in the country; the maximum was from Tamil Nadu with 90 deaths, followed by West Bengal (80), Maharashtra (74), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68) Uttar Pradesh (66) Gujarat (62) and Delhi (40).
In the second wave, driven by the dreaded Delta wave, the maximum number of deaths from the community was reported from Delhi, where as many as 128 doctors lost their lives to Covid-19, as per data shared by IMA.
Bihar followed Delhi with 115 deaths. The other states that reported several casualties among the doctor community, who were at the forefront of the battle, were Uttar Pradesh (79), West Bengal (65), Tamil Nadu (64), Andhra Pradesh (48), Odisha (46), Rajasthan (44), Telangana (43) and Gujarat and Jharkhand both reported 39 deaths each.
He said in the third wave, which was driven by the Omicron wave, the rest of the deaths were reported.
Singh said they had met and shared the list with the Union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. “He was very polite and listened to us patiently. We hope doctors’ lives and contribution is counted too in this battle against Covid,” Singh added.
In the Rajya Sabha, the minister of state said that the centre under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) Insurance scheme for healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 had provided comprehensive insurance of Rs 50 lakhs to healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers who may have been in direct contact and care of Covid-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted by this or due to accidental death on account of Covid-19-related duty.
She also said the implementation of the schemes is primarily coordinated at the state level.
NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) are unable to agree on the the number of doctors who died due to Covid-19 over the two years – 2020 to 2022 – when the pandemic ravaged India.
While the union health ministry in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday said they have no data on the number of doctors who have died during Covid, the IMA, a national organisation of physicians with over 3 lakh members, said over 1600 doctors died during the pandemic.
In a written reply, Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said “disaggregated data on deaths due to Covid-19 by profession or otherwise is not maintained centrally.”
She said as of July 23, a total of 5,25,997 deaths due to Covid-19 (including those of doctors and healthcare workers) have been reported in the country.
The minister was answering a written question on the number of doctors and health workers who have died since March 2020.
ALSO READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar tests positive for COVID-19, isolates self at home
However, IMA national president Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh said they have prepared an entire list of doctors – described as Covid warriors and feted by the central government – who have died during the three Covid waves.
According to IMA, in the first wave, 757 doctors died in the country; the maximum was from Tamil Nadu with 90 deaths, followed by West Bengal (80), Maharashtra (74), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68) Uttar Pradesh (66) Gujarat (62) and Delhi (40).
In the second wave, driven by the dreaded Delta wave, the maximum number of deaths from the community was reported from Delhi, where as many as 128 doctors lost their lives to Covid-19, as per data shared by IMA.
Bihar followed Delhi with 115 deaths. The other states that reported several casualties among the doctor community, who were at the forefront of the battle, were Uttar Pradesh (79), West Bengal (65), Tamil Nadu (64), Andhra Pradesh (48), Odisha (46), Rajasthan (44), Telangana (43) and Gujarat and Jharkhand both reported 39 deaths each.
He said in the third wave, which was driven by the Omicron wave, the rest of the deaths were reported.
Singh said they had met and shared the list with the Union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. “He was very polite and listened to us patiently. We hope doctors’ lives and contribution is counted too in this battle against Covid,” Singh added.
In the Rajya Sabha, the minister of state said that the centre under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) Insurance scheme for healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 had provided comprehensive insurance of Rs 50 lakhs to healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers who may have been in direct contact and care of Covid-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted by this or due to accidental death on account of Covid-19-related duty.
She also said the implementation of the schemes is primarily coordinated at the state level.
