It is good to note that the High Court on Monday directed the authorities concerned of the government to ensure supply of personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves, to the doctors, nurses and staff of all private hospitals and clinics across the country so that they can attend to coronavirus patients.
Reportedly, the court also ordered the chairman of the advisory committee for prevention of infectious diseases to submit a report before it in a week on what steps the committee has taken in order to prevent the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
At this stage when many frontline doctors and medical professionals are contracting coronavirus every day, it is discouraging to learn that more than one third of the doctors at private hospitals have still not been provided with any personal protective equipment (PPE). Now the question arises why this is the case despite the government's assurance that there are enough PPE for all health workers.
It is the duty of the government to supply the safety gears to all deployed to fight the virus. Any failure to do so throws the physicians and other patients in those hospitals in a grave danger.
We must urgently ensure that all medical
workers, both at public and private hospitals,
are equipped with proper PPE.
The main reasons behind the high rate of infections among medical professionals working on the frontline to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic include the lack of PPE and supply of poor-quality safety gears to them.
When medical professionals do not have the proper protective gears, they put not only themselves at risk but other patients as well. If doctors are not provided adequate number of PPE as recommended by the World Health Organization, some of them may feel abandoned and think they have no choice but to give up the profession they love.
The government needs to protect the frontline health workers and in return they will give their best. Without our doctors, this fight can never be won.
Therefore, it is high time to integrate adequate security measures for healthcare professionals who are directly confronting the virus. In order to fight the pandemic prudently, we must urgently ensure that all medical workers, both at public and private hospitals, are equipped with proper PPE.
