Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has decided to don his white coat and offer his services as a doctor once a week, The Guardian reported. He has decided to offer his services in areas that are within the scope of his practice, in order to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.
The 41-year-old leader reportedly rejoined the medical register last month following an appeal from the country's Health Service Executive to healthcare professionals who were not working in the field at the time, to step forward.
Having worked as a junior doctor in Dublin and qualified as a GP in 2010, Varadkar signed up following the call for help. His father who was an Indian immigrant, was a GP while his mother was a nurse.
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Meanwhile, Indian leaders with medical degrees have also come forward in the hour of need. According to a report by The Hindu, several such politicians who had quit their medical practice, joined the fight against the virus, following an appeal from the Centre.
Anticipating a shortage of doctors and medical staff, the Union government had last week appealed to retired doctors who had served in the army to rejoin the field amid the crisis.
The report mentioned Noida local MP and head of Kailash Hospital, Noida, Dr Mahesh Sharma, who has re-entered practice. He told the paper that while in the safety of his home, he could not ask the doctors to attend to patients of COVID-19, hence he decided to get back into the field.
Other such politican-doctors who have come forward include Congress corporator Dr Zishan Hussain, an MD in internal medicine in Akola, Maharashtra, Bihar BJP chief and West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal and Vamsi Krishna, an MD in internal medicine and district Congress president for Nagarkurnool in Telangana.
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