Hyderabad: Medical staff in a tizzy over lack of Personal Protective Equipments, masks

Hyderabad: Government doctors working in Telangana are a worried lot these days due to shortage of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and N95 masks. They are quite on the edge in the wake of seven AIIMS doctors getting infected while on duty.

Doctors from Niloufer hospital held a protest for sometime on Friday, demanding that they be supplied PPEs and safety masks. They withdrew protest after the administration did the needful.

This demonstration comes within a few days after the junior doctors at Niloufer had threatened to go on strike over lack of PPEs and N95 masks as the hospital is being frequented by over dozen Covid-19 suspected cases in the last few weeks. A three-year old kid tested positive this week, which exacerbated their concerns.

Even junior doctors at Gandhi hospital, who were called for a meeting by senior officials in the wake of an attack by patient's family on duty doctors, demanded adequate stocks of the protective equipment and masks.

A DMHO, who did not wish to be quoted, stated that districts are being given PPEs and N95 masks in limited numbers obviously due to shortage of stocks not just in state but all over the country. "Even though states have allocated funds to buy PPEs and masks, there is no supply in the market and also few Indian manufacturers are into this business until now. Centre is trying to procure them from abroad and at the same time holding meetings with Indian textile firms to explore possibilities of manufacturing PPEs by meeting WHO guidelines and safety," the doctor said.

Meanwhile, Medical JAC Chairman Dr Bongu Ramesh appealed to the government to immediately ensure enough PPEs and N95 masks to hospital staff who face the risk of infection.

He cited the example of seven doctors from AIIMS testing positive and urged the government to act at the earliest.