SMCH's Riturag Thakuria in IMA's list to receive "COVID Warrior" "Honour for entire team," says Doctor

To commemorate the birth and death anniversary of Bharat Ratna physician and former Chief Minister of West Bengal Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Doctors’ Day is observed on July 1 all over India. Indian Medical Association (IMA), the national organisation of physicians and doctors, in its celebration of this year’s Doctors’ Day has announced the names of IMA Covid warriors across the country during the pandemic at its National headquarters in New Delhi. From Assam, 6 doctors have been selected for the prestigious IMA Covid warriors awardees. Among them is Dr. Riturag Thakuriya from the Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH), who happens to be the only one from the entire Barak Valley.

In a conversation with Barak Bulletin, Dr Riturag Thakuria has expressed his feelings about this achievement. He said, “It would be unfair to say that only one person has made a special contribution in this difficult situation. Of course, the Indian Medical Association has honoured the entire team of the Silchar Medical College & Hospital and since I was the nodal officer, my name has come up in it. I am extremely proud and excited to receive this honour. I would like to share this honour with every doctor and health worker in the hospital. The hospital is in a much better position now because we have all done a good job together. ”

When the coronavirus outbreak set its foot last year, the Silchar Medical College & Hospital was lagging far behind in terms of infrastructure. There was also undue fear among the common people and a great lack of awareness regarding this epidemic.

In this context, he said, “In the first stage, our infrastructural situation was so backdated that it would have been very scary for the patients to come and stand there. But due to the hard work and determination of everyone starting from doctors to health workers, we were able to provide medical service undisrupted during this pandemic. The state government has taken good care of the infrastructural improvements and now the oxygen plants, ICU beds at the Silchar Medical College & Hospital are better than any other hospital in the state. In addition to the government hospitals in Guwahati, there are many private nursing homes where advanced treatment is possible. In the three districts of the Barak Valley, the Silchar Medical College & Hospital was once the only place of reliable treatment.”

He then added, “Earlier, many people tried to hide the coronavirus infection because due to fear and lack of awareness. This might have contributed to the increased death toll, but people are slowly realizing it. Now the fatality rate has come down and we are able to cure the patients faster as they report in time for medical services. In this way, we will be able to save the lives of the patients quite easily even if there is a bigger wave in the future.”

Dr Riturag Thakuriya asserts that the lethality and death rate of the Covid-19 has decreased a lot now mainly due to the mass vaccination of people. He said, “Many people might say that people are exposed to the virus even after taking two doses of the vaccine. However, those who have been vaccinated have higher immunity than the general population and are recovering relatively quickly. At the initiative of the state government, people are being vaccinated at every level and in the future, almost everyone will be vaccinated. This, in turn, will make the human body much more capable of fighting the virus in the future.”

Apart from Dr Riturag Thakuria, Dr Tulsi Prasad Chutia of North Lakhimpur, Dr Anupal Kumar Sharma of Guwahati, Dr Uttam Kumar Nath of Jorhat, Dr Suvradwip Biswas of Bongaigaon and Dr Piyush Agarwal of Tezpur were also honoured by the IMA on the occasion of Doctors’ Day. The doctors and health workers at the SMCH are elated and proud for Dr Riturag Thakuria to be recognised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).