By: Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar: Atleast 250 Kashmiri doctors serving abroad are providing free telemedicine consultation 24×7 to people in the valley since last year.
These Kashmiri doctors who are serving in Saudi Arabia, US, UK, Canada, started this initiative last year. These doctors are ranging from general physicians, cardiologists, chest specialists, orthopaedists to paediatricians to general surgeons and pathologists.
A Kashmiri doctor based in Gulf said first they had a small group of doctors then others also joined them from Gulf, US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many doctors who are serving in Jammu and Kashmir are also part of this endeavor, he said.
He said they took this initiative as it was not possible for patients to visit the hospitals amid the pandemic. “We provide medical advice, create awareness among patients and even provide prescriptions called e-prescription wherever needed,” he told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
“We receive most calls related to COVID, kidney ailments, diabetes, blood pressure, psychiatric issues,” he said.
Sharing her experience of how she got benefited by this service, Farah Jan, 27, a resident of Srinagar’s Rajbagh area, started cough and fever in the first week of June. After taking medicines for two days, there was no improvement in her condition. Eventually, she got her COVID-19 test done which came positive.
“It was not possible for my old parents to take me to the hospital as I feared they might catch infection. I got connected to a doctor in Saudi Arabia by a friend. The doctors gave me online advice for two weeks, prescribed a few medicines, advised to be in home isolation and boosted my morale. I was told to check my oxygen saturation level and should remain above 90,” Farah said.
After 10 days, she got cured and her COVID test also came negative. “I felt as doctors were available for me 24×7 as I would call them any time,” she said.
Meanwhile, there has been significant increase in COVID positive cases for last few weeks. On Thursday,172 new positive cases of novel Corona virus (COVID-19), 21 from Jammu division and 151 from Kashmir division were reported thus taking the total number of positive cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 328590. Srinagar has 73906 positive cases of which 67 were reported on Thursday.
The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole Thursday also visited several Hospitals of district Srinagar to review preparedness of these institutions for containment of Covid and inspect adherence to Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) in these health institutions. (KINS)