So far, almost 500 doctors have died due to the coronavirus disease in India, according to the updated list of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday. This is approximately half of the number of claims which are either settled or under process of being settled by the government to reimburse COVID-19 doctors who succumbed due to the viral infection.

Dr Rajan Sharma, president, IMA said that the latest data states that 515 doctors who were treating COVID-19 patients are martyred in the country till now. These were all allopathic doctors identified through various branches of IMA. There are 1,746 IMA branches that are functional across the country. The number of doctors died could actually be higher in number.

As per the IMA record, the doctor patient ratio is 1:194. Almost 201 doctors were in the age group of 60 and 70 years. 171 doctors who died were in the age bracket of 50 to 60 years. More than 70 years of age were 66 doctors, and 59 doctors were between the age group of 35 and 50 years. Almost 18 doctors who passed away were less than 35 years of age.

The government has stated that there is no central database to provide the exact number of doctors who died while on line of duty. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state for health, recently said in Parliament that public health and hospitals are under states, so the Centre is not maintaining any records. The only record being maintained is the total number of compensations being processed under the government’s insurance scheme for all healthcare workers in this coronavirus pandemic, known as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana package.

On September 22, in the COVID-19 media briefing, the Union secretary for health, Rajesh Bhushan, mentioned that 242 claims under the scheme had either been processed or were under process. He said that they are closely monitoring the figures under PM’s pandemic response package. An insurance cover amounted to ₹50 lakh for all frontline healthcare workers is available and has been extended till March 2021. 62 claims are settled and more than 130 claims are being processed under this package. Also, above 50 claims are yet to come from states.

Source: Hindustan Times