Hyderabad: Doctors demand free Covid treatment, jab

Koti: A total of 20 doctors organisations have come together to represent the problems to the government and demand to provide free Covid treatment and vaccination to the family members of doctors especially to those who are performing duties in Covid wards. The doctors also demanded to make the treatment free to the doctors at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences.

The working doctors met the Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao, Director Medical Education Dr Ramesh Reddy and have a representation to provide ex gratia to the families of the doctors who succumbed to Covid.

Speaking to the media, a member of the doctors JAC Dr Ravi Shankar said that there were many issues doctors were facing since early 2020. Free Covid treatment and vaccination to doctors

and their families was a prior demand since long. "Though we have represented several times about our issues to the Ministers and top officials, our problems are not yet solved," he said.

The doctors JAC also demanded to reduce the work pressure on doctors by dividing the working hours as it was impossible to work for 24 hours continuously. Dr Ravi Shankar said that doctors were performing 24 hours duty as the pandemic was on peak, now the timing should be reduced as the cases had declined and doctors are stressed mentally. A doctor cannot perform well if he is not stable mentally, Dr Shankar said.

Dr Kathi Janardhan said that doctors and their family members were dying due to the virus. Recently a 25-year-old son of an ANM employee died due to Covid as he was not vaccinated even after request. "How doctors and health workers can work if there is no security to them and their families?, he asked, urging the government to pay bio-hazard allowance to doctors and all the health workers on par with traffic police.