DC Srinagar’s letter ‘demeaning’: DAK

Srinagar, June 06: The Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Sunday took a strong exception to the letter written by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar in which he has demeaned DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan and attempted to belittle all the good work he has been doing vis-à-vis the Covid-19 pandemic.

Condemning the letter, DAK spokesperson, Dr Riyaz Ahmad Dagga said the contents of the letter are baseless, unscientific and defamatory for the clean and honest image of the DAK President.

“Dr Nisar is a senior consultant Medicine at GMC Srinagar and is also an influenza and pandemic expert. He has been at the forefront in the fight against the pandemic, by treating Covid-19 patients tirelessly since the public health crisis began in 2020,” he said.

“Apart from that, DAK President has been sensitizing and making people aware about various aspects of the disease. He is the one who has been educating people about the importance of Covid-19 vaccine through print, social and electronic media. Not just locals, even national and international publications have been publishing comments of the DAK President in their stories related to the pandemic,” The Spokesperson said.

“All along Dr Nisar has been stressing that the vaccine is the only way that would protect people from Covid-19 and bring an end to this public health crisis,” he said.

The Spokesperson further said when initially people including healthcare workers were hesitant to take the vaccine, Dr Nisar was among the first to receive Covid-19 vaccine. He circulated his photo while receiving the vaccine in social media and mainstream media to ensure that people know that the vaccine is safe and effective. And that encouraged a huge section of the population to take the vaccine.

“The DAK has set up helpline numbers to address the public concerns related to Covid-19. And recently, we received a call from a young male namely Muntansir, an engineer by profession, who had developed a severe anaphylaxis to Covaxin for which he was hospitalized and he wanted to know if he can receive second dose of the same vaccine,” he said.

“In response to this, DAK issued a statement asking people who are allergic to ingredients of the vaccine not to take the jab, lest they might face any severe reaction, hampering their lives and also create doubts in the minds of people vis-à-vis the vaccine. However, we were quite clear in the statement that those having history of allergy unrelated to Covid-19 vaccine such as food, medicine, latex, insects and environmental triggers can take the vaccine,” DAK Spokesperson said.

“This is also mentioned in bold letters in the fact sheets of Covaxin and Covishield which are currently being used in Kashmir. The sole purpose of this was to make people aware about this scientific phenomenon and save lives, and not resort to any misinformation to impact the vaccination drive,” he said.

General Secretary DAK, Dr Suhail Shah said the contents of the DC’s letter were unscientific and misleading. He has created a story which is everything but science. The contents of the letter are intimidating and harassing. This has demoralized the whole medical fraternity who are risking their own lives to save others in this difficult time.

“How do you expect a doctor to be efficient if he/she is constantly thinking that if he/she says something for the benefit of patients, he/she might be punished?,” he said.

“If a doctor will not do talking during the pandemic, then who will?  he added.