SRINAGAR: In the battle against the Covid19, Jammu and Kashmir last lost 14 doctors so far. The first wave proved quite dangerous for the doctors, unlike the second wave that took off in April 2021.
So far, six doctors lost their lives in 2021. Two of them belonged to Jammu, three to the Chenab Valley region and one to Kashmir. All the five Jammu doctors died within three days.
The three Pir Panchal valley doctors who died within 24 hours were identified Dr Tahir Mirza, Dr Mohammad Akram Malik, and Dr Basharat Hussain Shah. One of them had retired as Chief Medical Officer.
They were followed by two Jammu doctors Dr ML Sharma of Karan Bagh Gadigarh (died in GMC Jammu) and Dr MK Raina of Trikuta Nagar, who passed away at ASCOMS Sidhra.
In Kashmir, a prominent radiologist, Dr Mustafa Aalam died. He was running one of Srinagar’s oldest diagnostic centre. However, he was home and not working in his diagnostic centre.
A report in the media recently said that one of the doctors who survived the Covid19 was paralysed for life.
Last year, in the first wave, eight doctors lost their lives to Covid-19 in J&K. These included six doctors from Kashmir. They were identified as Dr Shabir Ahmad Malik (ISM), Dr Mohammad Saleem Hussein, Dr Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Dr Khursheed Iqbal, Dr Abdul Rashid Sherwani, and Dr Mohammad Iqbal Khan.
From Jammu, two young doctors were killed in 2020. These included Dr Naveed Bashir Runiyal (from Banihal) and Dr Rajat, a Post Graduate GMC doctor. He was a radiologist.
Indian Medical Association, however, has mentioned Jammu and Kashmir losing 13 doctors to the raging pandemic.
Insiders in the medical fraternity said that around 2000 heath workers contracted the infection in Kashmir alone. They fought the disease, survived and reported back to duty.
