While many frontline health personnel in Kerala said there is no shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), some have alleged that these are of low-quality. Taking up the issue with the state government, Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) has sent a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging that they are being provided with low-quality PPE kits and masks.
The letter stated that the Primary Health Centres (PHC) and Community Health Centres (CHC), which are treating patients with fever, did not get N-95 masks. “The three-layer masks are not available in normal outpatients (OP) wings and only two-layer masks are being distributed. These two-layer masks are not recommended for health workers,” the letter read.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recommended triple-layer medical mask and N-95 respirator mask for personnel working in hospital or community settings. However, according to these medical officers, at most hospitals in the state, the PPEs are not as per the government-approved standards.
“The protection equipment, which is distributed to the hospitals, are collected from various sources. Currently, there are no proper means to assure the quality of the PPE. Due to the shortage of these kits, some fake companies are distributing low-quality protection equipment to hospitals,” alleged the association, appealing to the government to ensure good quality of the private protection equipment.
KGMOA has also suggested that the government create a reserve pool of healthcare workers in the state. They said that a portion of health officials can continue to be at home and be called in for COVID-19 duty during an emergency situation. The hospitals under the Catholic Church management, for example, are working with minimum staff as about two-third have been asked to remain at home and be ready for any emergencies.
“Currently, all doctors and paramedical staff across the state have been working to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic. But if health officials are affected by the virus, it will lead to a situation where all health officials will have to go in quarantine. This kind of working system, that is, having a reserve of staff will assure proper treatment for all patients,” they said.
KGMOA state secretary Dr GS Vijayakrishan told TNM, “If the health officials fail to wear proper PPE equipment or are wearing low-quality ones, there are chances of them being affected by the COVID-19. Currently, 13 health officials in the state have been affected by COVID-19. If more health officials are affected, it will affect our entire health system and, in turn, disrupt all the prevention activities in our state.”
Drawing an example from Italy, one of the most affected countries in the world, Dr Vijayakrishnan said, “Many doctors in Italy have been affected by the virus and it caused a huge crisis. When the doctors there were infected, the final year MBBS students had to be deputed to treat the COVID-19 patients.”
He added, “In many parts of India and the world, doctors and paramedical staff are facing a shortage of proper protective gear. But our request to the Kerala government is to provide us, the health officials, with good quality masks and PPE.”