I swear by Apollo Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.
-The Oath of Hippocratus, 1923 Loeb edition
I assume it’s safe to say that the highlight of #DayThree
for all of us would be the contrast between our expectations from doctors and
the treatment we have been giving them—the attack on a private practitioner
in Beed by some local political goons, followed by our government
requesting private practitioners to keep their medical centres working in this
crisis, risking their families, health and safety.
Let me break it down further for you: in
the wake of recent developments which have made us realise that
it’s the hospitals—and not the temples—who kept their doors open when it really mattered, all segments
of our medical fraternity are now expected to work 24x7 to serve and save the fools who couldn’t understand enough to follow the basic precaution of confining
themselves within their homes, a celebrity singer who’s throwing tantrums for not being treated like the star she isn’t,
and their fellow medical practitioners who had to undertake the risk of getting infected
while helping these fools and celebrities; all this within the limitations of a
healthcare infrastructure, which cannot be compared to that of countries who
have already given way to the pandemic—the same healthcare system which
couldn’t be spent upon more than 1.15% of GDP, thanks to which India
ranks 184th out of 191 in terms of %GDP spent on healthcare as per
WHO, by the government who is now encouraging people to appreciate them by
blowing whistles and banging plates; while ignoring the
threat of getting kicked out of their houses like what happened in Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh, and the cries and woes and blames of being extortionists, still giving away their own salaries to keep the hospitals functioning; only to face more and more people breaking the quarantine and extending the period
for which they are to maintain this superhuman form—working in multiple shifts at abnormal hours without sufficient protective equipment to reduce the risk of getting infected themselves and yet at their maximum efficiency—for there is no other
explanation as to how they are currently managing to do this.
That’s a lot to ask of someone, in the name of one oath, isn’t it?
