WB forum proposes museum in memory of Covid warriors

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, January 4

The West Bengal Doctors’ Forum (WBDF), an umbrella organisation of doctors which has been making significant interventions from time to time to prevent the spread of the pandemic, has decided to set up a Covid memorial museum dedicated to doctors who died after contracting the virus from patients.

Dr Rajiv Pandey, a senior WBDF office-bearer, said the proposal for setting up of a museum in the memory of the doctors who sacrificed their lives while fighting the pandemic had already been passed in the executive committee meeting of the WBDF.

“The outbreak of Spanish Flu was somewhat similar to the Covid pandemic. Spanish flu had hit the humanity in 1914 and took a huge toll, but most of us are not even aware of it,” Pandey lamented.

“We do not want people to forget the fight put up by doctors to arrest the spread of the latest pandemic and treat the infected patients by putting their own lives at risk. The fight is still on,” Pandey added.

Pandey said as many as 90 doctors died in West Bengal till date after contracting Covid in the line of duty.

He said the exhibits that would be showcased in the proposed museum would include PPE, face shield and various other tools used by doctors to treat Covid patients. The museum would also feature pictures of the martyred doctors and write-ups on them.

The story of the research regarding the development of a vaccine for Covid would also feature in the proposed museum, Pandey added.

The forum would approach the state government for the proposed museum. “Ideally, we would like to set up the project in Kolkata or its neighbourhood. However, we will settle for wherever land is made available to us. We have little choice regarding this,” Pandey said.

Pandey said the project would be completed in phases with the estimated fund of about Rs 50 lakh needed for the first phase would be raised from contributions by WBDF members. The next tranche of fund needed for expansion of the project could be mobilised by crowdfunding, Pandey added.

Quote:

We don’t want people to forget the fight put up by doctors to arrest the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and treat the infected patients by putting their own lives at risk – Dr Rajiv Pandey, WBDF office-bearer

Box: Virus claimed 90 medicos in WB

90 doctors died in West Bengal till date after contracting Covid in the line of duty

The exhibits that will be showcased in the museum will include PPE, face shield and tools used by doctors to treat Covid patients

It will also feature pictures of the martyred doctors and write-ups on them

The story of the research regarding the development of a vaccine for Covid will also feature in the proposed museum