Difficult times for non-Covid patients too

The reports that non-Covid patients are dying because of non-availability of ventilators is very disturbing. Corona has started taking a heavy toll on the people, even on those who have not tested positive for it yet.

It is disheartening to note that non-Covid patients are finding it hard to avail of normal health care facilities because most of the life-saving equipments and resources have been employed for Covid patients.

A few days back, a businessman Sunny Bhatia was injured in a car dash in Sakchi. He was rushed to hospital on time. But his family members found it hard to take him to a hospital where ventilator could be available. He had to be taken from MGMCH to TMH to Brahmanand Hospital. Ultimately his life could not be saved.

This is heart-breaking for any family. The realisation that someone died because he or she could not be provided the required health care support on time is a damnation for entire community and society. A human being deserves a human treatment.

On Wednesday, a cancer patient from Sonari died because he could not be put on ventilator when he required it.

This is really saddening. Despite limited infrastructure, hospitals should ensure that there is no paucity of life saving equipments even for the non-Covid patients.

On any normal day, the number of patients suffering from kidney, heart, lungs or liver ailments is big enough.

The fact that hospitals and health care professionals nowadays are completely geared toward Covid treatment is satisfying as well as worrying.

Satisfying because the system understands the urgency of the Covid-related situation. And worrying because it does not take into account the condition of non-Covid patients.

Many non-Covid patients complain that they are not getting the same attention or same level of care from health care professionals as they used to earlier.

No doctor is willing, and quite justifiably so, to hold the hand of a patient and feel his pulse like he or she would have done in normal times. And this is affecting the non-Covid patients deeply.

Corona is also having financial and psychological fall out on common man’s life. The number of suicide cases has risen sharply and people are in the grips of mental ailments. These are depressing times for the humanity as it scampers to find a way to cope with the viral challenge.

A day will come when we all would have developed herd immunity. A day may also come when we would actually have a vaccine that protects us from this scourge.

But by that time these difficult times will have left a deep scar on us. This world would not be the same ever again. Especially after having lost so many lives. For no fault of ours.