“We do not say this enough to you, but you make us very proud, especially during this time,” said senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during an interaction with nurses via video conferencing on National Doctor's day on Wednesday, 1 July.
He continued, “we thank you for your services. You are the representatives of our country and you are doing us proud. It is an honour to interact with you.”
The four nurses who took part in the interaction were – Vipin Krishnan from AIIMS, New Delhi, Anu Ragnat from New Zealand, Narendra Singh from Australia, and Sherlylmol Puravady from United Kingdom.
Expressing his gratitude, Gandhi further said, “It is important to listen to different voices. Everyone should be heard. Not only you but also millions of nurses and doctors like you, who are from our country are doing an excellent job in India and abroad.”
Nurses Discuss Their Challenges, Demands
“Risk allowance should be given to nurses and doctors at least at this point of time because we are losing lives. We are exhausted and we are fighting in the front line without any fear," said Krishnan from AIIMS.
He and his wife are infected with the novel coronavirus and are currently in quarantine.
Krishnan said that India has 1.2 million registered allopathic doctors, around 3.7 million registered nurses in India. “When we are coming to the ratio, it is 1:1500 for doctors and 1.7:1000 nurses in India. The WHO recommended ratio is 1:1000 doctors and 3:1000 nurses when coming to the recommendations of the WHO. Running short in the scenario of human resources, but still we are fighting hard," he said.
He added the Rs 1 crore compensation promised by the Delhi government to healthcare workers who have died battling COVID-19 is yet to reach the kin of the deceased.
Puravady, from UK, said “My husband is actually in high risk category and he was in shielding. So because I’ve been working with the COVID-19 patients, I had to move out of my home leaving my husband and my children for six weeks,” she said.
“Now I've gone back. Two weeks ago, I went back home and it's because the numbers are coming down. The number of patients in the hospital is coming down now and my management is so supportive of me," she added.
Gandhi’s conversation with the four nurses was the sixth in a series that he has held with experts to discuss the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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