July 1 is celebrated as ‘National Doctor’s Day by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). commemorating the iconic and internationally renowned medical practitioner, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy who served as a physician, a freedom fighter, an educationist, and a politician. Amidst the pandemic, while India is still battling with the deadly virus, our Frontline Warriors are too fighting to save our life, and one of those heroes are our doctors. There’s no better day than today, National Doctor’s day to express our gratitude for our medical saviours. This pandemic has made us realize how important doctors are for a country. everyone who has survived corona is due to these frontline warriors who saved lives without even worrying for their own lives and their families.
This day was first celebrated in 1991 to honour the chief minister of Bengal, dr BC Roy. He played a great role in establishing medical institutions like Jadavpur T.B. Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva Sadan, Kamala Nehru Memorial Hospital, Victoria Institution (college), Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital and the Chittaranjan Seva Sadan for women and children. He was also referred to as the first medical consultant in the subcontinent of India who was more successful and dedicated than his contemporaries in several fields by British Medical journal.
We celebrated this day to express our gratitude towards all the doctors who work endlessly to keep our country and families healthy.
The shield to our Health, the protector of our families, we grandly celebrate Doctors Day in India to honor every doctor’s relentless hard work in securing our nation in every possible way. We graciously thank all the doctors, physicians for their dedicated hours in contributing to our country. The difficult times amid COVID-19 have once again reminded us about the contributions and sacrifices made by doctors and the healthcare staff around the globe daily. In honor of this noble profession, Doctor’s Day is celebrated on different dates across the world.This year is once again dedicated to all those doctors and healthcare professionals who are serving in these trying times by risking their lives either in primary as well as secondary care setups or in dedicated COVID care facilities.
Doctor’s Day in India
Doctors Day in India is celebrated on July 1st every year. The aim of observing National Doctor’s Day is to drawattention to the role and duties of medical professionals in saving lives. The purpose of the day is to recognize their roles and responsibilities. During the Covid-19 outbreak, when the number of cases rose tremendously, doctors have been working around the clock, risking their lives in order to save as many lives as possible. Instead of worrying about their own and their families safety, they decided to serve the country. They worked tirelessly in the hour of crisis.
History
National Doctors’ Day is celebrated on July 1, in India, to mark the birth and honor the contributions of renowned physician and former West Bengal chief minister Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. The first National Doctors’ Day was celebrated in the year 1991. He was instrumental in establishing institutions like Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva Sadan, among others. He was awarded with the Bharat Ratna on February 4, 1961.
Doctor’s Day 2021
The Doctors Day 2021 will be all about the critical role of health care professionals in combating pandemics together. We are looking to celebrate this venerable day with zeal and embrace the success in fighting the COVID-19 till now. In his ‘Mann ki Baat’ address on the last Sunday of June 27th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminded the nation of the contributions made by doctors and corona warriors during the Coronavirus pandemic. He said that the nation “must pay its tributes to the the doctors who ensured that India did not succumb to the challenges posed by Covid-19.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “On Doctors Day, my greetings to all doctors. India’s strides in the world of medicine are commendable and have contributed to making our planet healthier.” PM Modi, in his Mann Ki Baat address on Sunday, remembered Dr BC Roy and said, “We must pay tribute to our doctors who ensured that India did not succumb to the challenges posed by Covid-19.”
For all of us, the current pandemic that the world is undergoing is perhaps the most difficult time we are ever facing in our lives. It is even more difficult for the doctors who are working tirelessly to ensure that all those that are infected are provided with proper medical facilities. Their contributions and hard work deserve our gratitude each and every day and not only on any particular day. Their contribution to the healthcare industry is incomparable.
National Doctors’ Day was established by the Government of India back in 1991 in honour of the birth and death anniversary of the physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. Since then, July 1 in India is marked as National Doctor’s Day to show gratitude to all doctors.
Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy
Dr.Bidhan Chandra Roy was born on 1 July, 1882 and also died on the same date in 1962. On 4 February, 1961, he was honoured with India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.
He was a highly respected physician and a renowned freedom fighter. He was the second Chief Minister of Bengal and remained around 14 years in his post from 1948 until his death in 1962. He is also considered the great architect of West Bengal. The five cities of West Bengal were also founded by him namely: Durgapur, Bidhannagar, Ashokenagar, Kalyani, and Habra. He was also a member of Brahmo Samaj. In the Medical College of Calcutta, he was an alumnus of the University of Calcutta. In his memory, the Union Government had also instituted an award. In 1928, he played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and also in the establishment of the Medical Council of India (MCI).
At the time of the ongoing pandemic, doctors are at the forefront and leading the battle. Their commitment to keeping the nation safe and healthy in these challenging times is truly exceptional. Doctors have been fighting a long war from the frontlines against the pandemic, saving lives at the cost of their own. To pay a tribute to the selfless work done by doctors and to honour their dedication towards serving the humanity, the Government of India along with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a national voluntary organisation of doctors in the country, celebrate National Doctors’ Day on July 1 every year.
It is even more difficult for the doctors who are working tirelessly to ensure that all those that are infected are provided with proper medical facilities. Their contributions and hard work deserve our gratitude each and every day.
It is truly said that we can’t see God but on Earth Doctor is like a God who cures us and gives us life to live in a better way.
This day provides us an opportunity to thank physicians, doctors that they do for the patients, the communities they work in, and for society as a whole. No doubt it is their hard work that keeps us all healthy.
Doctor’s Day celebration
National Doctor’s Day is celebrated by the Government and non-government healthcare organisations to get familiar with the doctor’s contributions. Healthcare organisations staff organises several events and activities on this day. For grand celebration on Doctor’s Day Rotary Club of the North Calcutta and North East Calcutta Social & Welfare Organization organises big events annually.
Free medical check-up camps are organised at various health care centers and public places by the health care organisations to promote quality medical services free of cost among the public. Rotational medical services by doctors are also promoted. Various discussion programs are organised across the country to make people aware of health check-ups, prevention, diagnosis, proper treatment of the disease, etc.
Various activities are also organised to make people aware of the priceless roles of doctors in everyone’s lives like a free blood test, random blood sugar test, ECG, EEG, blood pressure check-up and etc.
Several activities at schools and college levels are also organised to encourage youth to choose and dedicatedly follow the medical profession.
“People pay the doctors for his trouble; for his kindness, they still remain in his debt.”
– Seneca
Introduction
1st July is known as National Doctor’s Day in India and it is organized by the Indian Medical Association. The theme for this year is “Save the Saviours”. The profession of a doctor is full of responsibility to serve the public, and they play a huge role in everyone’s life. We enter the world because of the successful delivery by a doctor, we are safe from the viruses because we get vaccinated by doctors, we recover from our sickness by the consultation of a doctor, doctors perform surgeries on us to keep us alive, and the most important, it is because of the research of these doctors that we now have a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2.
History of the Day
This day was declared as Doctor’s Day in 1991 by the Government of India in honor of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy’s birth and death anniversary. Dr. B.C. Roy is famously known for making good health services available to common people. He played a huge role in the creation of two very important medical institutions of the country; the Indian Medical Association in 1928 and the Medical Council of India in 1933. He is also known for helping in the creation of the Indian Institute of Mental Health. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna on February 4, 1961, a year before his demise.
A few facts about his life; he had to take 30 meetings with the dean of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London to gain admission because the dean was not too inclined to admit him. He graduated in 1911, after which he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He entered politics after returning from London and took part in the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi and took care of him during the 21-day fast. After Independence, he became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and a year later, he was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal and he served till his death on 1st July 1962. And the B.C. Roy National Award was instituted in 1976, it is the highest Indian award in the medical category.
Mental Health of Doctors
The theme of “Save the Saviours” should not just be to save the doctors from violence but also from the mental health issues they face. An IMA survey claims that 80% of doctors in India are stressed because of their profession. This is not a new problem that arose because of the pandemic, it has been an issue from a long time without getting much attention. A survey conducted by IMA in 2017 shows that 56% of doctors do not get comfortable 7-hour sleep most days. Other studies from 2019 show that 30% of Indian doctors go through depression and 80% face the risk of burnout. It was studied that India’s doctor-patient ratio is very high which brings stress to the doctors related to extended working hours, verbal/emotional abuse by the patients and frequent negative patient outcomes. This stress can then result in prescription errors, loss of temper, being unable to give sufficient time to patients and poor communication skills. But the doctors tend to refuse to seek professional help as it might affect their prospects as a doctor. The doctors are also trained to mask their pain and deal with it themselves which is not healthy. The overtime and overexertion are just normalized and expected that people forget how it affects our doctors. As we focus on saving our saviours, we should also normalize mental health issues and accept and promote doctors seeking professional health, these saviours deserve to save themselves too.
Violence Against Doctors
Violence against Doctors has been in existence from a long time but the pandemic has just brought more attention because of the role the doctors have been playing. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 2002 define workplace violence as incidents where the employees are abused, threatened, assaulted or subjected to offensive behaviour in circumstances related to their work. An IMA survey shows that 75% of doctors have faced some form of violence in their profession, which includes verbal, emotional, sexual, and cyber abuse. About 62.8% of doctors are unable to see patients without having a fear of violence, 13.7% of doctors fear criminal prosecution and 57.7% of the doctors have thought of hiring society. When the national lockdown was announced in March 2020, the common people were filled with panic and anxiety and they started acting out on the health care workers, they started discriminating against the doctors, not touching them, not letting them buy fruits from the stall, treating them as polluted, not just this but also physical abuse. Two female doctors were beaten by a fruit seller when he found out their profession. All this forced the Indian government to make an ordinance to protect the frontline workers, but even this could not protect them, in June 2020, a doctor at Hyderabad’s facility was assaulted by the relatives of the patient. Not just that, in June 2021, a doctor in Assam was punched, kicked and hit with metal trash cans by the relatives of a patient. This has become a common thing in India and a part of the reason is because of the lack of responsibility taken by the government in the health sector, so everything falls upon the doctors to deal with it. Till when do doctors have to suffer for protecting us? When will we realize that they are working for the public, they are trying to help us, they put themselves in danger every day to protect us and they get this treatment for it? This isn’t just an issue for existing doctors but also for the future doctors who keep worrying about being in situations where they are abused and the fear, in turn, changes the focus from saving the patient to saving themselves. Adding to that they start wondering if it is a country-based issue which then makes them consider further education abroad.
Conclusion
It is high time we start appreciating doctors for their service to the public and this Doctor’s Day is a good time to start if you haven’t already. Our saviours need to be saved.
A heart felt gratitude to all the super heroes around!
What exactly is National Doctor’s Day?
Doctor’s day is celebrated around the nation on 1st July every year marking the birth and death anniversary of a renowned physician and former chief minister of West Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. Doctors, the real life heroes are not just to be remembered on this day. We should be conscious of their job throughout. Doctor’s day is just meant to celebrate their contribution to each of our lives.
Who doesn’t fear for their life?– The Doctors
Doctors? Are they not angels sent from heaven to protect God’s creation from all the fatal diseases and accidents? They dedicate their lives to serve people, save life. Truly no less than a super hero. They compromise with their own health but makes sure that every patient they treat return to their families all fit and fine. The doctors, don’t they have a family waiting for them back home? They do, right? Doctors at work are also a son/daughter, husband/wife, father/mother. They too have people waiting for them to have dinner together. How strong would they have to be when they know he/she might be fighting for someone’s life forgetting about their own. Are they not equal to the other batch of heroes fighting for our country at the borders? They are indeed.
This pandemic which started last year has yet not been over. The death toll is soon going to hit 4 lakhs in India. Not just a number, they are people whom we lost. Among which around 800 doctors lost their lives in just the second wave of covid. They too had a family which got shattered at their deaths. This pandemic would have destroyed the world completely if they cared about their own life and sat home in fear. Life inside a PPE kit is not at all easy. People can’t even wear masks properly. Have you all even thought of being inside a PPE kit for hours serving people whom you don’t even know? That’s humanity! At such crucial time, when common people need strict rules and fines to stay home and wear masks to protect themselves, there are people inside the PPE kits in such humid climate, fighting to save lives of those careless people.
Doctors are humans too. They’ve been seeing such devastated condition of the nation for more than a year now. So many people dying, their families crying. It’s a humane instinct to cry along seeing others cry. They are helpless, can’t even put their arms around to hug and console them. How heartbreaking would each day be for them at the hospital. They try their best to make them live a little longer. Still, when they’re gone it seems to them as a failure. They failed to make them live. Is it so easy to live with a feeling of failure everyday a thousand times for more than a year now? One needs to be strong to see people lose their life in front of them.
Above all, they are constantly being criticised by several of them for not doing their jobs and killing their patients purposely. Are these false allegations so easily bearable? Have you ever wondered what if all the doctors around the world go on strikes in this situation? You’ll beg for them to return. That’s the position they hold among us.
On the occasion of National Doctor’s Day, I would like to thank all the doctors and physicians for their care and support not just during this pandemic but for all the crucial times when we needed them. They are no less a hero to this world. I wish they pay no heed to the critiques. They are doing a wonderful job serving us and I trust our doctors, they’ll bring everything back to normalcy soon. This world has become a better and healthier place to live in with doctors bringing the joy of health and goodness to our lives. Happy Doctor’s Day.
The nation can’t thank you enough! Stay strong, Stay safe! Jai Hind!
Every year,July 1 is observ d as National Doctor’s Day in the memory of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, who had his birth and death anniversary on the same day.
The day, commemorated by Indian Medical Association (IMA), is dedicated to all the doctor’s and healthcare workers who have been serving people by risking their lives. Dr.Roy , former Chief Minister of Bengal, was known for his selfless service.
Dr. Roy was born on July 1,1882, and passed away on July 1,1962. Since 1991, National Doctor’s Day, also called Doctor’s Day has been celebrated across the nation every year. This day is celebrated on different dates across the world.
“This world has become a better and healthier place to live in with doctors bringing the joy of health and goodness to our lives. Happy Doctor’s Day.”
“Medicines cure diseases, but only doctors can cure patients.” – Carl Jung
Dr. Roy played a great role in establishing medical institutions like Jadavpur TB Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva Sadan for women and children, Victoria Institution (college). He was also referred to as the first medical consultant in the subcontinent of Indian and was more successful and dedicated than his contemporaries in several fields, mentioned British Medical Journal.
For his outstanding contributions, he was also awarded the Bharat Ratna, on February 4,1961. National Doctor’s Day is observed to acknowledge the role doctors play in saving numerous lives.
Amid the pandemic, the role of frontline workers has been even more emphasised. Cheers to the spirit and dedicated of our frontline workers who immensely contributed in the hour of crisis.
From the starting of the pandemic, the doctors and all the other frontline workers are doing their duty 24×7 just to save people. During this, many doctors died too but still they tried to save the patients till their last breath.
“Doctors are the boon directly sent from God for us. Salute to the heroic job you do. Hats off to you! Happy Doctor’s Day.”
“At the time of emergency, doctors are like God for the patient.”
If the ongoing pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to appreciate, respect and value our strong-willed and hard working doctors and healthcare workers who have worked selflessly day and night beyond the call of duty to get our country through two deadly waves of the outbreak with whatever resources they had. Today, we celebrate and thank them for all that they do, without worrying about their own safety. As a nation, we are proud and grateful for our doctors and all front-line healthcare workers for giving their all- saving, treating and advising us and our loved ones.
In India, Doctor’s Day is celebrated on 1st July to honour Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, a physician, philanthropist, social worker, freedom fighter, Bharat Ratna awardee and the former Chief Minister of West Bengal. He was born on 1st July, 1882 and died on 1st July, 1962. He, not only ensured availability of quality health services for common people at a critical period for India’s Independence, but also played a vital role in the creation of two prominent medical institutions- Indian Medical Association (1928) and Medical Council of India, of which he was the first President as well.
He also kickstarted the Indian Institute of Mental Health and opened Kolkata’s first postgraduate medical college. He also opened centres for women for social work and nursing training. The British Journal described Dr. Roy as “the first medical consultant in the subcontinent of India, who towered over his contemporaries in several fields. At his professional zenith, he may have had the largest consulting practice in the world, news of his visit to a city or even railway station bringing forth hordes of would-be patients.”
Pre-Independence
Dr. Roy was born in Patna, Bihar. He studied Mathematics in Bihar and medicine from Calcutta Medical College. Later, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. After his postgraduation from London in 1911, he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) and a Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS). He is one of the few to have obtained MRCP and FRCS degrees simultaneously.
After returning to India, he joined Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement and became his friend and personal physician. During Gandhi’s 21 day ‘self-purification’ fast in Pune, Dr. Roy was by his side and took care of him.
Post-Independence
After Independence, he became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and shortly after that in 1948, he became the second Chief Minister of West of Bengal, which at the time was torn by communal violence and influx of refugees. However, West Bengal finally saw peace within three years under his stewardship. He also practiced medicine and treated patients during this time. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 14 years till he died on his birth date in 1962, aged 80. After his death, his house was donated to the public to run a nursing home.
In 1961, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. B.C. Roy National award was instituted in 1976 to award work in the areas of politics, philosophy, medicine, science, literature and arts.
National Doctors Day is celebrated nationwide, every year, on the 1st of July. But why? This is to express our gratitude towards doctors and physicians for their service towards our well-being. Legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy was born on the 1st of July in Patna, Bihar in 1882 and coincidentally died on the very same date in the year 1962. In 1961, Dr Roy was conferred with the nation’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna. Doctors day in India was established in 1991 in honour of his birth and death anniversary.
Well, Doctors day is celebrated every year on the 1st of July but this year another day was observed, by the doctors of IMA (Indian Medical Association) on 18th of June, NATIONAL PROTEST DAY. Doctors came together against the assaults on doctors in COVID wards. IMA observed nationwide protests demanding central law to protect doctors against violence.
Doctors and healthcare workers held placards and raised slogans like doctors bachao desh bachao (save doctors, save nation) and save the saviour. Doctors and medical staff at the IMA office in Hyderabad protested wearing black badges. Doctors from AIIMS Delhi and IMA unit, Ludhiana also took part in the agitations. Various state-level protests were taking place for a long time.
Why are these protests taking place?
Let me brief you here
Bhopal: A local politician was seen screaming at a Bhopal doctor who couldn’t save the life of a patient who was bought to the hospital at an oxygen level of 30. This left the doctor in tears and he was demoralised to the extent that he wanted to resign.
Guwahati: A doctor at a coronavirus facility in Assam was punched, kicked, and pounded with metal trash cans and bricks, by the relatives of a Covid patient who had died, allegedly due to oxygen shortage. Locals also assaulted the doctor who was then hospitalised.
Kerala: A police official allegedly attacked a doctor in the Alappuzha district. The official is accused of slapping Dr Rahul Mathew, who was working the night shift at the Mavelikkara district hospital, after the former’s mother, a COVID-19 patient, was brought dead to the hospitals. Doctors protest for the non-arrest.
And many more such cases went viral on social media. Assaults on doctors might not make it to the news daily, but take place every day.
What exactly did they do to get such treatment?
Grinded in high school, cracked NEET, spent 7-8 years working hard and studying in college, paid a hefty amount of fees to medical colleges or even took loans for their studies.
Who does that? Their fault, right?
Image source: Google | Image by: BusinessToday.In
During COVID lockdown when most of us were busy making dalgona coffee and baking cakes, they were out there in scorching heat, wearing PPE kits dealing with patients. Burning the candle at both ends, forgetting they have a life of their own, forgetting they have a family waiting for them, isolating themselves from their own family members, in their own houses to protect their families from contracting the virus, more than 500 doctors died during COVID, trying to save our lives. But why, just to save us. Imagine how demoralising it is for them to get beaten up by the ones they’re working for.
What is the probable reason?
Lack of infrastructure
Manpower
Laws in place
Security arrangements
Lack of infrastructure
The shortfall of ICUs, no beds for patients, dearth of oxygen support, the inadequacy of medicines, caretakers bound to wait in long queues for medicines at dispensaries, patients gasping outside hospitals, black marketing of almost everything required for a person to recover, our health infrastructure was crippling.
Image source: Google | Image by: The Times Of India
Manpower
Along with the tools used to help fight COVID, there is a paucity of our warriors too. There should be at least one doctor per 1000 patients according to WHO, whereas in India there is one doctor who attends more than 1445 patients. Not just doctors, the suggested number of nurses per 1000 patients is at least 3, there are just 1.7 in India (43% less than WHO standards). This leads to overworking of doctors and medical staff ignoring their basic requirements like sleep and a proper diet.
Laws in place
Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, also known as the Medical protection act is there in at least 19 states, which when breached can lead to an imprisonment of up to 3 years and a fine of INR 50,000. Damage to any medical devices and equipment is a punishable offence and offenders are liable to pay twice the amount of the damaged equipment’s cost.
The Act, however, fails to really protect doctors because it features neither in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) nor in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This makes it difficult for victims to approach the police for help or the latter to file a complaint against suspects.
Security arrangements
Doctors are not politicians with scores of gunmen and bouncers around them, who will assure their safety? Due to lack of security at hospitals and clinics, doctors and other staff are the soft targets for unhappy relatives and agitated patients.
Stepping into doctor’s shoes
Imagine yourself as a teacher who fears being beaten up to death by parents for their child’s poor performance at a test, will you even be willing to teach anymore with the same zest. I don’t think so. Hospitals are understaffed, doctors are overworked, patients are overwhelmed.
But this isn’t the fault of our doctors. They are going an extra mile in order to save as many patients as they can, making 3 patients share a bed or switching oxygen support among patients, they have our best interest at heart.
Doctors are not supposed to be accountable for the paralyzed infrastructure, that is where the leaders we vote for come into play. They’re made to work for 15+ hours at a stretch that too in a harsh environment, in a place they no longer feel safe or comfortable in.
What do doctors want?
All they want is for the government to sit with them and consider their problems.
For a law to protect their lives so that they can continue with their duties towards the nation. The implementation of existing laws.
They don’t demand banging of thalis from our balconies or something like that in order to pay our respect, they didn’t ask for showering of flowers upon them for their service, all they’re asking for is to be able to practice in a safe environment where they’re worried for patients’ life, not scared of getting beaten up by sticks.
Image source: Google | Image by: Anjana Pasricha ( VoA)
We were always raised to believe doctors are God on land. Saving our life, giving us a new one at times, while risking their own. What they now want is not godly, but at least a humanly manner.
How can we help?
First and foremost, don’t be someone they need protection from. i.e. don’t be an assaulter.
Secondly, don’t ignore if you see someone being unfair toward them. Raise your voice, report if you see something like this.
A simple realisation that we can trust our doctors can do wonders.
Lastly, don’t forget they’re humans too. Thank them, pay your respect, or at least, just don’t be a jerk.
This Doctors day, I bet Dr Bidhan Chandra wouldn’t be proud of our country treating its doctors and medical staff like this.
Let’s all come together and promise that we’ll make the world a better place to live for our selfless human beings. We owe them.
Ending here with a salute to any doctor or an aspiring doctor reading this, and a sincere tribute to the warriors that lost their lives.
Eduindex News 
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