In this series of interviews Covid Response Watch brings you the voices of doctors, health workers, social activists and others, working ats the grassroots, speaking about the multiple impacts of the Covid pandemic on the lives of ordinary Indian citizens.
Some aspects of the Covid disaster are new and unprecedented but many of them are also a continuation of the crisis that existed well before the pandemic hit Indian shores. And the crisis is not just on the medical front but perhaps even more so on the social, economic, political and even cultural fronts.
Here we talk to Dr J Amalorpavanathan, a senior vascular surgeon, champion of public health and currently member of the Tamil Nadu State Development Policy Council. He was also the Convenor of Tamil Nadu’s highly successful Cadaver Transplant Program.
Dr Amalor emphasises the critical role of a publicly funded health system to tackle the ongoing Covid pandemic and criticises the corporate-run hospitals for looting Covid patients through high costs and charges at a time of crisis.
