Muslim doctor who warned PM Johnson about PPE dies

LONDON: A British Muslim doctor diagnosed with coronavirus has died - three weeks after he warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that health workers urgently need more PPE.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, passed away after 15 days in hospital. He was originally from Bangladesh. On 18 March he wrote a message to Boris Johnson asking him to "urgently" ensure personal protective equipment for "each and every NHS worker in the UK". He told the prime minister that healthcare workers "are in direct contact with patients" and have a "human right like others to live in this world disease-free with our family and children".

Dr Chowdhury was a locum urologist who worked at Homerton Hospital in East London and died on Wednesday at Queen's Hospital in Romford after testing positive for coronavirus. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Taking to Facebook last month, Dr Chowdhury wrote: "Dear and Respectable Prime Minister Boris Johnson,. "Please ensure urgently Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] for each and every NHS health worker in the UK. Remember we may be doctor/nurse/HCA/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients but we are also human beings trying to live in this world disease free with our family and friends. People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding jobs which is very inspirational, but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families in this global disaster."

The Muslim Doctors Association paid tribute to him in a statement, saying: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital, after fighting for his life from COVID-19. "He leaves behind his wife and two children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Two weeks before his admission to hospital he wrote a message to the prime minister urging for better PPE. "May he rest in peace."

Two days ago British Pakistani doctor Syed Zeeshan Haider, a general practitioner at Dagenham's Valence Medical Centre, passed away at the Queen’s Hospital in Romford after losing battle to COVID-19.

Two weeks ago, Dr Habib Zaidi, a distinguished Pakistani British doctor, lost his life after spending 24 hours in intensive care at Southend Hospital. Dr Zaidi had contracted the deadly coronavirus in his duties as a doctor.