On doctors’ day, PM hails their ‘heroic’ efforts during pandemic

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday described doctors as messengers of God who saved countless lives during Covid-19 sacrificing their own at the altar of duty.

Addressing the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on National Doctors’ Day, the PM said doctors were “incarnations of God” and the government was committed to their safety.

The PM cited changes made to the laws last year to safeguard doctors on duty and lauded medical practitioners for constant fine tuning of India’s clinical response to Covid, a dynamic disease, which was mutating.

Crediting them with India’s Covid mortality rate of 1.3 per cent, among the lowest worldwide, the PM also urged doctors to create awareness regarding the benefits of yoga in overall wellbeing.

“Can the IMA work in mission mode to create awareness about yoga, conduct science-based research to evaluate its benefits and publish the results in international journals for the world to take note?” asked the PM. The PM said doctors’ day (which marks the birth and death anniversary of legendary physician BC Roy) represented the finest values of medicine.

He praised doctors and scientists for finding effective solutions to Covid as the virus mutates, saying “despite the limitations of infrastructure, India’s per lakh rate of Covid infection and death rate is still manageable as compared to the developed countries”.