Pointing that India has turned this pandemic into an opportunity to ramp up its healthcare infrastructure; Minister of State (MoHFW) Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that India is ready to handle the highly-infectious disease ravaging the world.
Speaking at the inaugural of ‘Gratitude Week – A Tribute to Health Guardians’ a first-of-its-kind live web show by Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council, Choubey said he will consider demand of a memorial for healthcare workers who are fighting the battle from the front. The idea was endorsed by Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) who was also present at the event.
Dr Randeep Guleria, director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said that this is once in a generation experience and at a time when we were more focussed on non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases have come back with a bang – it reminds how important preparedness is. Doctors are coming out of their retirement to serve people despite knowing the risks and they accept the risks as a part of their duty, but at the same time want people to hear their concerns, protect, prepare, support and care for them.
“We need to remember no man is an island – in population-based interventions, such as social distancing, cough etiquettes, masks and isolation will be important until there is a medicine or a vaccine but we can witness more outbreaks and we need to have a long-term plan to prepare for them,” he said.