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In India’s fight against Covid-19, the focus has been on equipment, oxygen, medication and vaccines. The state of medical personnel — doctors, nurses and aides — has escaped focus, except for individual experts such as Dr Devi Prasad Shetty. Medical manpower is likely to be the next big crisis point in India’s fight against Covid-19. The government must put augmenting healthcare manpower on the priority list as it addresses issues such as oxygen supply, availability of drugs, and beds with critical care facilities.
India need more doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical technicians to deal with the rising number of Covid cases. As more patients require critical care, there will be a need to augment the ranks of doctors and nurses. Deploying final-year student nurses and fifth-year medical students will help alleviate the pressure and augment the ranks of medical personnel. In March last year, Harsh Vardhan has suggested deploying fifth-year medical students to treat Covid patients. This requires amending regulations of the Medical Council of India. The fate of that proposal is not clear. Perhaps there were concerns about asking students to put themselves in harm’s way. The situation has changed considerably. There is no longer a shortage of protective gear and equipment; vaccines are available, nursing and medical students who volunteer to work with Covid patients can be given the first dose before being deployed.
Dr Devi Shetty, who made this suggestion last year, says India will need 2,00,000 nurses and 1,50,000 doctors to deal with the pandemic over the next year, and points out that these numbers can be found from final-year students as well as those graduates who are preparing for admission to postgraduate programmes.
Courtesy - The Economic Times.
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