The Indian Medical Association on Wednesday refuted the Centre’s data on the deaths of doctors due to the coronavirus. While the government put the number at 162, the association said that 734 doctors in the country had died due to the infection so far.
Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had provided the numbers in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, PTI reported. He said that apart from 162 doctors, 107 nurses and 44 Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHA workers had also died due to the infection.
IMA, which represents 3.5 lakh doctors across the country, said it was shocked about the underreporting of the deaths. “734 doctors lost their lives due to Covid-19 in our country as of today [Wednesday] out of which 431 are general practitioners, who are the first point of contact for the people,” IMA said in a letter addressed to Choubey. “Sadly, 25 doctors are below 35 years of age.”
IMA criticised the government for not accurately recording the deaths….