Letter to BS: Are our hospitals, medical institutes ready for coronavirus?

The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt got the world into a standstill with many countries going through unprecedented crisis, losing precious lives. India too is facing one of the worst crises in recent times. Though our health care management system is rickety when compared to the developed nations, we have been able to manage the crisis till now because of the aggressive and laudable precautionary steps taken by the Centre and the state governments. The public and the media are also to be lauded for their efforts.

At the same time there is fear about the deadly disease surging with rapid community spread. Are our hospitals and medical institutions ready for it? It is here that we have to come out with urgent measures and immediate steps. It is time the government paid more attention to our health care system. The Budget allocation for medical care should be increased. Every district needs an AIIMS-type institution to handle pandemics in the future. Virology labs must be established in all the states. Medical students must be given additional training to cope with such situations. Every citizen should be made part of health awareness campaigns and trained to overcome health disasters. Covid-19 is definitely not here to stay but we have to be diligent and prepared for more dangerous virus attacks in the future.

M Pradyu       Kannur

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