Mysore-Kodagu Member of Parliament, Pratap Simha highlighted a pressing issue of faulty personal protective equipment (PPEs) among frontline workers in Karnataka
In a tweet which he has also pinned to his profile, he shared a Facebook post which cited that faulty and inadequate protective gear provided by the state government to doctors treating COVID-19 patients has resulted in a doctor testing positive. The text of the Facebook message says a doctor in the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences Bengaluru had raised concerns about the “faulty PPE kits and shortage of N-95 masks”.
He tagged Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar and said, “Fyi(for your information) I feel, it’s a genuine concern.”.
Sir @mla_sudhakar fyi and I feel, it’s a genuine concern. pic.twitter.com/5A53FaOB2z
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) July 3, 2020
At the time of publishing this story, Minister Sudhakar had not yet acknowledge the tweet.
With Karnataka particularly Bengaluru facing a stiffer crisis regarding COVID-19 pandemic management by the day, the issue of inadequate protection for doctors and health care workers is turning out to become a huge condern.
Incidentally, Simha is the MP from the ruling party which is in power both in state and Centre.
It was only on Thursday that TNM reported how doctors and staff at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health in Bengaluru were concerned over performing duties without PPE.
PPE was provided only after three staff members including a doctor had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Additional Director of Karnataka State Drug Logistics and Warehousing Society, N Manjushree, said there is no shortage of PPEs in the state and they have 4 lakh PPE in stock for the COVID-19 management as of date.
The full text of the Facebook message has been reproduced in full.
This is my sister [name withheld] (first cousin to be precise). She's a Doctor and she treats COVID-19 patients at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Bengaluru. She's a frontline worker and she risks her life every single day. Last week she raised an alarm about faulty ppe kits and shortage of N-95 masks. But the Administrative Medical Officer (AMO) at KIMS, shunned and chastised her for raising this issue and since then she's been buying her own N-95 masks. Today, she tested positive for COVID-19 and she appealed to the Hospital authorities and raised her genuine concerns over the faulty protective gears, but she was again harassed and humiliated for raising the issue. This isn't just about my sister, many doctors at KIMS and doctors all around the country are facing harsh backlash from the management and government officials.
This is the plight of the doctors in our country. We as a system have failed the doctors. The least that we can do is arm them with fully functional protective gear. In these trying times, I do not want to blame a particular government or a politician. This is upon us and our leaders have failed the doctors
It's high time that our Netas and Babus did something about this. Clapping and showering flowers isn't going to serve purpose. Sooner or later, we won't have enough doctors to treat COVID-19 patients if the authorities do not address this issue at the earliest.
Source: Karnataka Medical Association