Don’t be surprised if you see a group of doctors carrying an empty stretcher on their shoulder and moving around the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus on Friday. Calling it a ‘Funeral of health system in India’, the doctors were observing the death of the paralysed health system in the country.
“We will be carrying an empty stretcher with a garland in the same way how a body is carried when the funeral is done. The health system in the country is already dead and this is our way to show it to the patients. We will be moving around the hospital and let patients know about the dilapidated condition of the system,” said Dr Vijay Gurjar, president of Resident Doctors’ Association of AIIMS.
The doctors are inviting medicos from other hospitals too. “We will inform the doctors from all the hospital and request them to join us,” added Dr Gurjar.
Medical practitioners all over the country are protesting recent cases of violence against medical personnel, including instances in Dhule and Mumbai’s Sion hospital where relatives of patients attacked their respective doctors-in-charge. The agitators said patients are usually accompanied by a large number of relatives, which puts pressure on them.
