Clapping alone won't work, need to ensure medical professionals work sans fear: IMA head

New Delhi: India will be collectively failing its healthcare workers if adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are not ensured for doctors, nurses and other staff treating COVID-19 patients, Indian Medical Association National President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Santanu Sen said Tuesday. "It seems there is a complete confusion among the manufactures of PPEs. The same needs to be addressed at the earliest. Clapping in appreciation alone won't work. We need to walk the talk and truly ensure that medical professionals can do their work without any fear," he said in a statement on.

His statement was made in response to two Change.org petitions started by Dr Asit Khanna, a doctor from Ghaziabad and by Srushti Pinisett, a designer from Mumbai.

Change.org is a technology platform where citizens start and support online petitions on the issues that concern them.

In his response on the two Change.org petitions, Dr Santanu Sen, also a Rajya Sabha MP, said, "Many medical professionals have expressed grave concern to the Indian Medical Association about the safety of health workers being exposed to patients who are carriers of the coronavirus. Even if a single healthcare worker is infected due to government negligence, it will be a blot on us."

He also urged the Centre to publicly list out the steps taken to procure the best quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), and reveal details, date wise, on the stages of procurement and the quantity of these PPEs.

Earlier, at an IMA meeting held in Kolkata to review the COVID-19 situation, IMA members drew attention to the lack of the most basic protective gear such as N95 masks, which has been in short supply because of hoarding, denying it to healthcare providers who really need it.

The members said that while India is still dealing with a few hundred patients and "we are preparing for the worst, the Central government should get its act together and take all necessary steps to protect its front line workers."