BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to rope in AYUSH doctors to strengthen the frontline medical teams in combating COVID-19 in their respective areas of the posting.
As many as 1,620 AYUSH personnel, including doctors and PG students in the State, cover streams of alternative treatment like Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy. The Health and Family Welfare department has asked districts to prepare a list of AYUSH personnel in their jurisdiction for training and capacity building in containing the disease.
Secretary Nikunja Dhal said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is developing a training module and the doctors would be trained online. While the management of AYUSH workforce has been placed under the disposal of the Chief District Medical and Public health Officers, the District Ayurveda Medical Officers and District Homeopathy Medical Officers will work as wing officers. Apart from the doctors and PG students, the undergraduate students, staff nurses, and ANMs will be imparted training on COVID.
Ayurvedic physicians seek PPEs
The Odisha Government Ayurvedic Physicians’ Association has urged the State Government to make provisions of life-protecting equipment for the AYUSH personnel engaged in the containment of COVID. In a letter to the AYUSH Director, general secretary of the association Dr Chittaranjan Behera demanded N-95 masks, gloves, and sanitizers for all doctors and staff of Government ayurvedic hospitals and dispensaries in the State.