As COVID-19 risks grow, doctors ask president for help

Senior doctors and physicians from the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) and other associations have urged President Dr Arif Alvi and the Pakistan government to initiate an effective awareness campaign through the print and electronic media about preventive measures regarding COVID-19, saying health professionals are the most affected segment of the society due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the country.

These suggestions were presented to President Alvi by a joint delegation of the PMA, PIMA and doctors belonging to different associations at a meeting at the Governor House in Karachi on Saturday.

The delegation comprised Dr SM Qaisar Sajjad, secretary general of the PMA; Dr Qazi Wasiq, treasurer of the PMA; Dr Sharif Hashmani, president the PMA Karachi; Dr S Tipu Sultan, ex-president of the PMA; Dr Abdul Bari Khan, CEO of the The Indus Hospital; Dr Saad Khalid Niaz; Dr Azeemuddin, president of PIMA; Dr Asif Hafeez; Dr Sohail Akhtar; Dr Misbah ul Haq; Dr Shamvil; and Dr Zafar Zaidi. The delegation was led by Dr SM Qaisar Sajjad.

Dr Sajjad briefed the president of Pakistan about all the problems being faced by medical professionals during the coronavirus pandemic. He stressed the need for an uninterrupted supply of PPE kits to the healthcare providers.

He requested the president to announce a compensation package for eight doctors who had died as frontline warriors in the battle against the coronavirus.

The government had still not visited the aggrieved families, and at this stage doctors should be encouraged, they needed moral support both from public and government, and there should be no deduction from the salaries of the doctors, he said and urged that the announced risk allowance for doctors be implemented immediately.

He also requested that the government should take immediately all the preventive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by forming a uniform policy.

He said it was entirely the responsibility of the government to stop the spread of the virus and manage the economic and social problems of the people.

The president was told that there were 250 deaths in the US in the first 65 days, while we have 367 deaths in the first 65 days, and this comparison is alarming. Dr Sajjad said the government should initiate effective awareness campaign through the electronic media for public guidance to adopt preventative measures to keep themselves safe from the deadly virus.

He also called upon the government to increase the testing capacity because so far only 182,000 people had been. He said there could be many people positive with the coronavirus, but they had not been tested and these people would definitely be a source of the spread of the virus.

“Until and unless we test them, they cannot be isolated. These people are high risk for the society. The burden of the disease will increase and thus it will increase the load of patients on health facilities, where health workers are already getting positive. In this situation, there could be a shortage of healthcare providers. We already have a dearth of ventilators," Dr Sajjad added.

Doctors also suggested activating a network of community clinics, family physicians and registered general practitioners with proper PPE kits and SOPs. They called for promoting home isolation, where possible, with monitoring and reporting of data by registered general practitioners and community clinics.

Dr Sajjad further said that the healthcare providers did not get the latest information from the government. He suggested that the PMA and other stakeholders should also be notified by the government.

In this meeting, Dr Abdul Bari Khan and Dr Saad Khalid Niaz informed the president about the coronavirus situation in Sindh and the testing capacity in the province. Dr Asif Hafeez, Dr S Tipu Sultan, Dr Misbah ul Haq, Dr Zafar Zaidi and Dr Sohail Akhtar also participated in the discussion.