At least 500 doctors died due to coronavirus, says IMA, questions Centre for not maintaining data

The Indian Medical Association on Friday said at least 500 doctors have died of the coronavirus so far in the country, Hindustan Times reported. The figure, published in a list, is half the number of claims settled or under the process of settlement by the Centre to compensate doctors who died due to the infection.

The association, which represents 3.5 lakh doctors across the country, had last month accused the government of “indifference” and “abdication” after it said there was no complete data on the number of frontline healthcare workers who have contracted the coronavirus and died.

“Our latest figures say 515 doctors treating Covid-19 patients have been martyred in the country so far,” Dr Rajan Sharma, the association’s president, said. “And these are all allopathic doctors that we have identified through our various branches of IMA – there are 1,746 branches functional across the country.” Sharma added the figures of the toll could be higher.

The database of the national voluntary organisation of doctors showed that the most number of deaths were reported in the age group of 60 and 70 years with 201 doctors succumbing to the infection. This was followed by 171 fatalities in the age group of 50 to 60 years, 66 deaths in doctors aged 70 and above, 59 in the 35 to 50 age bracket and at least 18 casualties in doctors aged less than 35 years.

On September 17, the health body had said that 382 doctors had died of the infection. The list of fatalities was published after the Centre had said in Parliament that there was no complete data on the number of frontline healthcare workers who have contracted the coronavirus and died.

Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey had told the Rajya Sabha on September 15 that health is a state subject and such data is not maintained at the central level. However, he said that the relatives of 155 healthcare staff, including 64 doctors, had sought relief under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, an insurance scheme for health workers tackling the coronavirus.

Union Secretary for Health Rajesh Bhushan had on September 22 mentioned that 242 claims under the scheme had either been settled or were under process.

On Friday, Sharma asked how difficult was it to maintain a list of fatalities among doctors. “How can the Centre wash their hands of their responsibility,” he said. “How is it possible that they cannot maintain a database at the central level when you need an Aadhaar card to get tested for Covid-19 through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test.”

Meanwhile, the association posted a tribute to the doctors who died because of the coronavirus. “IMA [Indian Medical Association] dedicates the sacrifice of 515 Indian doctors in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic to the nation,” the organisation said in a tweet. “We salute these martyrs. We salute all the nurses and the healthcare workers who sacrificed their lives as well.”