Kolkata horror: Doctors protest, health services affected in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in Karnataka

Doctors in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts close clinics in protest, affecting basic health services, while prioritizing emergency care.

Basic health services across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts were affected with doctors closing their clinics on Saturday, August 17, in support of the nationwide protest demanding justice for the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at a hospital in Kolkata recently. Hospitals closed their outpatient departments while keeping open the emergency services.

Anand Venugopal, Chief Operating Officer of teaching hospitals of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), which serves many patients in the twin districts and other parts of the State, said with the protest by doctors, none of the hospitals in the twin districts have made any compromise in the care of patients.

“In support of the serious cause the doctors are fighting for, the outpatient departments are closed. Doctors attended emergency services,” Dr. Venugopal told The Hindu.

Superintendent of Mangaluru Government Wenlock Hospital, Jesinta D’Souza, said 95 specialists and 112 super specialists from the teaching hospital Kasturba Medical College who serve in the Wenlock hospital have stayed away from duty due to protest. The hospital posted 34 government doctors and doctors working under contract under the National Health Mission and other health schemes and three doctors, who are staff members of the Hospital’s postgraduate DNB course, to manage emergency services and also provide emergency OPD services.

“With a bare minimum of doctors, we provided services at the hospital. Elective surgeries have been postponed. The services were affected,” Dr. D’Souza said.

Dakshina Kannada District Health Officer H.R. Thimmaiah said basic health services were affected across Dakshina Kannada. “With limited staff we kept our health care units open,” Dr. Thimmaiah said.

Doctors, a large number of medical students, Member of Parliament Capt. Brijesh Chowta, and MLAs from Mangaluru South and North D. Vedavyas Kamath and Y. Bharath Shetty, took part in the silent protest march from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) office to the office of Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner. The IMA Mangaluru Chapter, Association of Medial Consultants and other bodies of doctors organised the protest march.