Govt urged to provide safety equipment to healthcare providers

ABBOTTABAD: People’s Doctors Forum (PDF) has expressed concern over lack of protective measures for all the health professionals including doctors, paramedics and nurses who have been involved in taking care of the coronavirus patients in quarantine centres all over the country.

In a briefing here on Saturday, PDF general secretary Dr Daud Iqbal demanded provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all healthcare providers including doctors, nurses and paramedics.

While giving reference of Dr Osama Riaz who died of coronavirus while physically handling suspected COVID-19 patients in Gilgit, he asked the government to include the name of Dr Osama in Shuhada Package to provide financial assistance to his family.

“This step would not only encourage doctors and other healthcare providers to fulfil their duties with dedication, but also help the family of Dr Osama in the hard time they are facing,” he said.

He said that coronavirus disease is an infectious disease caused by a new virus, which causes respiratory illness with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases difficulty in breathing.

He said that no laboratory testing facility existed in any government hospitals in Hazara, causing problem to the patients. He told that presently tests were being sent to National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad and Khyber Medical University (KMU) in Peshawar, which delays the process by several days. He demanded provision of corona testing facility in Ayub Teaching Hospital immediately.