1.4 million global Indian physicians coming together on a single platform to fight Covid-19
April 11, 2020: The Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the Canada India Network Society (CINS), and Canadian Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage (CAPIH) announced the launch of the Global Indian Physicians COVID-19 Collaborative. The collaborative aims to foster cross systems learning to arrive at the best possible approach for prevention and management of COVID-19 encompassing vaccination, newer diagnostic tests, ventilation strategies, early warning algorithms to identify deterioration, use of antiviral therapy, plasma therapy and novel agents.
Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group and Founder President, GAPIO said, “We are now witnessing World War III. A war that has engulfed more than 200 countries and territories in just 100 days, infecting more than 1.69 million people and taking away 102524 lives. In my 65 years as a doctor, I have never seen what we are seeing today and I am sure that the world as we know it, will never be the same, again. But, COVID-19 has also made us aware that we can form a united force to take on any challenge by breaking the barriers that we have erected. It has made us recognize the amazing ability we have to find solutions in record time as medical professionals.”
Dr. Suresh Reddy, President, AAPI said, “I salute the spirit of doctors, nurses, technicians, paramedical staff, supporting staff and administrators all over the world in this fight. With the US having the highest number of cases, the learnings from the US can help others.”
Dr Ramesh Mehta, President BAPIO and Past President GAPIO said, “The first Global Indian Physicians COVID-19 Collaborative meeting will be held at 7:00 pm IST on Saturday, 11th April 2020 and will see experts from across the globe sharing their experiences and discussing strategies to halt the virus in its march”.
Dr Anupam Sibal, President GAPIO, said “COVID-19 has presented a unique opportunity for 1.4 million physicians of Indian origin working across the globe to come together and be at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, as we have done on many occasions in the past. The world is looking up to us for solutions.”
Dr Arun Garg, President CINS said, “We are delighted to have renowned experts address physicians from across the globe. The presence of Dr Prathap C Reddy, Founder Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr Vinod Paul, Member NITI AYOG, Dr Patrice Harris, President American Medical Association (AMA),Dr Bobby Mukkamala, Secretary AMA, and Dr Kamlesh Khunti, Professor Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine, UK demonstrate the ability of the Collaborative to get eminent physicians on one platform.”
“Each country needs to share the experience of treating COVID-19 and learn from each other which will help define and standardize the protocols for testing and treatment,” said Dr Sunil Patel, President of CAPIH, Canada.
Dr Sanku Rao, Past President AAPI and GAPIO, reiterated “the collective strength of the Physicians of Indian origin and the force multiplier effect will pay rich dividends in this fight.”
Dr Nandakumar Jairam, Vice President of GAPIO applauded the front-line warriors who have served as pillars of strength in this difficult time and acknowledged the contribution of each and every healthcare professionals and also thanked their family members for their support.
Dr Anju Aggarwal, Past Vice President and Past Secretary of AMIGA Australia shared the perspective from Australia on how containment has worked there.
Dr Sudhir Parikh, Secretary General of GAPIO said, “Our collaborative will bring together Physicians of Indian origin from 45 countries. The activities will be widely disseminated through social, electronic and print media across the globe. The Global Indian Physicians COVID – 19 Collaborative will regularly connect clinicians and researcher in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India and other parts of the world regularly to share knowledge on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research on drugs and vaccination”, he added.
Dr Sudhakar, President Elect, AAPI 2020 -2021, Dr. Anupama Gotimukula, President Elect, AAPI 2021-2022, Dr. Seema Arora, Chair, Board of Trustees, AAPI, Dr. Rohini Sridhar, Joint Secretary, GAPIO, Dr. Abhijat Sheth, Treasurer, GAPIO welcomed the launch of the Global Indian Physician COVID-19 Collaborative and reaffirmed their whole-hearted support to this initiative.
About Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO)
Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO) is a non-profit organization, founded by Padma Vibhushan, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr. Sanku Rao and Dr. Ramesh Mehta in January 2011 to bring together 1.4 million physicians of Indian origin in the world on one professional platform. This substantial workforce of physicians is a valuable resource, which can help to mobilize significant developments in the healthcare globally. GAPIO has representation from 45 countries including India.
GAPIO is dedicated towards its vision, Improving Health Worldwide, by organizing various community service projects in different parts of the country. These community service projects are held to provide free basic healthcare to poor, needy and deserving and include health check-up camps and charitable clinics, free vision screening, free medicines, and free surgeries.
GAPIO has assisted in creation of a web portal ”swaasthindia.gov.in” in collaboration with MOHFW Government of India, BAPIO and AAPI.
There is a big pool of distinguished doctors in multiple specialties and super-specialties, who are GAPIO members working at renowned and reputed institutions overseas as well as in India. GAPIO also has more than 20 BC Roy awardees as members. Many GAPIO members are Padma awardees.
GAPIO has a vision to train the medical fraternity to become effective leaders and conducts various Leadership Development programs including Soft Skills Training Workshops and Clinical Knowledge Development programs to enhance clinical knowledge of young medicos.
GAPIO holds annual conferences in India along with midyear conferences overseas in key cities. These include at Birmingham, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Sydney, Leicester, Moscow, Tampa, Vancouver, and Antigua. The Hon’ble Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India inaugurated the Global Health Summit at Mumbai in December 2018. Hon’ble Shri C Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra and Hon’ble Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra were present. The upcoming conference of GAPIO include an Annual Conference to be held in January 2021 in Delhi.
The GAPIO resource centre is an online resource centre with recorded videos that can be watched by doctors from the comfort of their homes. The videos projected during Webcast and live webinars are also made available to doctors in India and overseas.
The GAPIO mentorship programme enables mentors to guide the mentees about career development in a foreign country. Mentors will interact with young doctors through Face Time, Whatsapp or Google DUO (Video app).
Other GAPIO programmes include support for overseas MBBS Training, Post Graduate Medical education, Tribal Health, Telemedicine, Mentorship, Women’s Forum, and Young Doctors Forum.
Visit www.gapio.in for more information, Pic Source: https://www.facebook.com/GAPIOSocial/
