Over 12,000 Bihar doctors to join nationwide strike today

PATNA: More than 12,000 doctors across the state will join the all India 24-hour strike from 6am on Monday called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to show solidarity with their Bengal counterparts and against attack on two of them in a Kolkata hospital recently.
The West Bengal doctors are already on strike demanding fulfilment of their demands, including the arrest of the accused who had grievously injured two doctors and rolling out a stern central law for doctors’ protection.
However, keeping the grievous situation due to the increasing number of patients suffering from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in several north Bihar districts, the paediatric department at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and Sadar hospital at Muzaffarpur have been exempted from the strike.
IMA’s Bihar chapter president-elect Dr Bimal Karak said the lack of infrastructure and unavailability of required count of doctors in government hospitals and no action plan on the part of the government leading to more than 90 deaths due to AES in Muzaffarpur till now are additional factors in Bihar for going on strike.
Doctors under the aegis of Bihar State Health Services Association have also extended their support to the strike called by IMA, Dr Karak said.
In a press release, the State Health Services Association has said the routine work at outpatient departments of hospitals and health centres would be boycotted in support of the IMA’s call. However, doctors would remain on duty in paediatrics department, emergency services and postmortem across the state.
Dr Karak said a central team of doctors as well as AIIMS-Patna director Dr P K Singh had clearly said a strong government action plan was required to save the lives from AES in state, which claim so many lives every year.
“While the AES has spread to Samastipur and Vaishali too, more than 50 died of heatstroke. The heatstroke cases are the maximum recorded in Bihar since 1966. Amid these situation, there is massive lack of infrastructure as well as count of doctors at government hospitals. This needs to be addressed for improving health sector in the long run,” Dr Karak said.
“We have apprised Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and state health minister Mangal Pandey about the lack of infrastructure,” he said.
Karak said after the end of the 24-hour strike, a team of doctors would be sent to Muzaffarpur for assessing the situation.