DOCS, PARAMEDICS OUTSHINE ALL
Angels in white create new management standards in Corona war
I have no hesitation in saying that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers have outshone all of us in the ongoing global war against Covid-19. They have plunged into the battle to save humanity, caring little about their personal safety. Unmindful of the adverse circumstances and the meager resources available to them, doctors have put their lives on the line so that we may live. In this noble pursuit, many of them have paid with their lives. Yet they continue to fight on 24×7.
Why am I talking about medicos in a column meant exclusively for young business executives and managers? For the simple reason that doctors and their dedicated aides have set new benchmarks worth emulation by all professionals. Let knowledge of best practices blow in through the windows from all sides.
It is often said that if you do what you love, then you will not need to work all your life. That is what we describe as labour of love.
Medicos are able to elevate themselves to this level of spiritual existence because their vocation combines passion for work with compassion for whomsoever they serve, that is us. This is not to say that doctors live like ascetics hardly earning enough for themselves, kith and kin. But when the profession is all about service in the best sense of the term, the practitioner is bound to rise to a more humane level. It is this virtual godliness that drives medicos to take the biggest risks. Such state of mind is rarely seen in other professions, barring soldiers. Both of them live and die for others. They bring alive Satyug for us time and again especially when we are wallowing in sickness, misery and desperation.
The doctors’ Hippocratic oath, SOPs and protocol are such that any wavering perforates their conscience. It is moving and touching to discover the call of conscience at a time when the corporate world is seen wedded solely to the profit motive. No wonder, doctors command tremendous respect the world over.
The Corona crisis is witnessing medical services crumbling even in the richest and most advanced countries. The death toll in the mighty USA has crossed figures from China which was the first to report about the deadly outbreak. Medically proficient and affluent countries like Italy and Spain have thrown up their hands. Iran too is getting battered by the calamity, as are many other nations.
Though many other Asian countries like Nepal and India have, till the time of writing this column, been spared the full fury of this malevolently infectious disease, the doctors’ role is under tremendous pressure. Medical resources in these countries are no match to those available in the rich West. Adding to the enormity of the challenge is the large population, poor education and lack of awareness in many Asian countries. If that was not enough, religious beliefs of some fairly large communities are hindering use of modern medical practices to combat and prevent widespread occurrence of Covid-19. There have been instances of healthcare workers being violently chased out of localities predominantly inhabited by such communities.
Blinded by their faith such people are not only risking themselves but are also serving as super-spreaders of this incurable malaise. Their obscurantism and bigotry constitute a big challenge to the entire healthcare fraternity, governments and local administrations. But the ultimate burden has to be borne by the medicos. And they are doing it ungrudgingly.
The corporate world and its denizens need to learn a thing or two from the super heroes of the moment. There is so much for us to learn about risk management, extracting the most from shrinking supply chains, maintaining morale and team spirit, and much more with a never-say-die spirit.
It is also time for Nepal’s top brass to ruminate over our fragile medical structure. Once Covid-19 is gone, as it is bound to, people will expect the politicos to create a more robust healthcare system for the country. The corporate world too will need to pitch in. The post-Corona world will be a new world. I am looking forward to it.
The author is a poet and writer and also Chairman of BLC and Basant Chaudhary Foundation. Views are personal
