We the undersigned collective of doctors, public health professionals, health care organisations and concerned individuals seek your urgent cooperation in combating the stigmatisation of COVID-19 affected individuals, communities and health professionals.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the need of identifying those who are either at a high risk of contracting the infection or are infected, and ensuring isolation of such patients and their contacts to minimize risk of transmission to others.
However, while the health workers and public health authorities need to know the details of suspected or infected persons, disclosure of their names in the media has led to stigmatization and targeting of the person or family concerned.
Not only does it infringe on privacy and has the potential to promote discord between the infected/ suspected/ high risk person and their family and community, it also instills fear among people, and they may not come forward for testing.
Realizing this, Government of Odisha has issued a notice prohibiting disclosure of names, contact details of the affected person or his/ her family member or the names of the treating doctors or health workers. It also prohibits the media from disclosing the name or other identifiers of the affected person.
However, we do recognize that the media has the responsibility of meeting the information needs of people about the magnitude and progress of the epidemic in their communities, cities, states and in the country as a whole, and the critical role played by Indian media played in this regard.
While fulfilling this need, several media outlets (print and electronic) have also been reporting on identifiers such as occupation of the infected person (doctor, nurse etc), religion, employer (e.g working in Mohalla clinic), or location (such as living in the colony abc).
While such identifying information may be helpful for epidemiological purposes, it serves no useful purpose for the common media consumer.
On the other hand, such information can promote fear, and worse, promote targeting and stigmatization based on occupation, religion or place of residence, among others. We have seen how such reporting and subsequent labeling has led to targeting and stigmatization of people belonging to a particular sect in South Korea.
We have also read with concern how doctors and nurses have been harassed by house-owners, migrants have been ostracized by their own communities and a religious fervor has been added to many reports, communalizing the spread of the epidemic.
In view of the above, we urge the media to follow all norms of journalistic conduct specified by the Press Council of India and others, in matters related to reporting on COVID-19, specifically the following
Maintain privacy and confidentiality of infected people, suspects, their families and affected
Refrain from mentioning religion, occupation, place of residence, social class etc and circumstances of the infection.
Follow the principles of preventing harm to the infected people, suspects and their contacts
We support fair, transparent and timely sharing of information on the epidemic and reporting on the ground situation but with due regard for patient rights, and respecting the privacy and confidentiality of patients, doctors and citizens in general.
We are always available to work with media to support its endeavor to fight COVID 19, in a constructive manner.
Yours Sincerely,
(Undersigned)
List of signatories
1. Abraham OC
Dept of Medicine, CMC Vellore
2 Anna Oommen
Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
3 Atkuri Ramani
Public Health Physician
4 Aziz, Nuzhat
Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad
5 Dr Balachandran, Amith
PG Registrar, CMC Vellore
6 Bhan, Anant
Public health professional, Bhopal
7 Bhogal, Ranu Kayastha
Director, Policy Research and Campaigns, OXFAM India
8 Bhooshan, Bharat
Journalist, ex-News Editor, Press Trust of India
9. Biswas, Rakesh
Physician and Independent Researcher
10 Bose, Sanjana
Student, CMC Vellore
11 Chandra Sekhar, G
Ophthalmologist, Vice-Chair, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad
12 Chatterjee, Jagannath
Patient Health Advocate
13 Chatterjee, Prabir
Independent Public Health Consultant
14 Chokkar, Jagdeep
Former Dean, IIM, Ahmedabad
15 Dalal, Arnaz
CEO, Equitable Access to Health Care Consortium
16 Dasgupta Jasodhara
Independent Researcher, New Delhi
17 Datar, Shrinidhi
Physician
18 Devi Shylaja
Obstetrician, Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
19 Duggal, Rahul
Director, Shram Sarathi
20 Fernandez, Evita
Senior Obstetrician & Director, Fernandez Foundation
21 George, Regi
Community Physician, Tribal Health Initiative
22 George, Tarun K
Dept of Medicine, CMC Vellore
23 Gour, Anami
Pediatric Intensivist, NHS Foundations Trust, London
24 Govil, Shalini
Senior Advisor, Naruvi Hospital, Vellore
25 Gupta Narendra
Advisor, PRAYAS, Rajasthan
26 Gupta, Manisha
StartUp! India
27 Gupta, Subodh S
Public Health Practitioner, Maharashtra
28 Gutta, Smitesh
PG resident, Internal Medicine, CMC Vellore
29 Ignatius Nithin
Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
30 Inbarani, Esther
PG Registrar, Internal Medicine, CMC Vellore
31 Inderjeet Kaur
Midwife, Fernandez Foundation
32. Jacob, Suraj
Visiting Faculty, Azim Premji University
33 Jesani, Amar
Independent Researcher and Teacher (Bioethics)
34 JV Punitha
Department of Medicine, CMC, Vellore
35 Karpagam, Sylvia
Public health doctor and researcher
36 Kathuria, Poonam
CEO, SWATI, Ahmedabad
37 Khetan, Neelima
Development professional, Udaipur
38 Khera, Reetika
Development Economist
39. Khandelwal, Rajiv
Director, Aajeevika Bureau
40. Kollannur, Antony
Public Health Consultant, Kochi
41 Koshy, Roshine Mary
Makudna Christian Leprosy and Gen Hospital
42. Kumar, Chandan
Angmehnati Kashtkari Sanghathan Samiti, Maharashtra
43 Kumar, Raman
President, Academy of Family Physicians of India
44 Kurian, Susan
PG Registrar, CMC Vellore
45 Kuruvilla Dawn
MD Registrar, CMC Vellore
46 Malempati, Amaresh Rao
Head, Dept of Cardiothoracic Surgery, NIMS, Hyderabad
47 Manjula, P
Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad
48 Mehta Aditi
IAS (Retired)
49 Mehta Ajay
President, Vidya Bhawan
50 Menon, Gayatri
Faculty, Azim Premji University
51 Menon, Nandkumar
Surgeon, Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
52 Mohan, Pavitra
Public Health Physician, Basic Health Care Services
53 Mohan, Sanjana
Paediatrician, Basic Health Care Services
54 Nagarajan, Doraiswamy
Volunteer, Healthcare
55 Nagsen, T
Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad.
56 Nair, Tara
Researcher, Ahmedabad
57 Nandy, Amrita
Researcher, New Delhi
58 Naraynanan, Raja
Ophthalmologist, Equitable Access to Health Care Consortium
59 Ninan Pradeep
Consultant Pediatric Surgeon
60 Nithin P
Physician
61 Oza, Apoorva
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme
62 Oommen John
Community Physician, Bissumucuttack Mission Hospital
63 Padmaja Y
Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad
64 Panchal, Vidit
General Physician, Indore
65 Paul, Priyanka
Physician, St. John's Hospital, Trivandrum
66 Peter, Benoy
Centre of Migration and Inclusive Development
67 Prasad, Ramakrishna
Family Physician, Bangalore
68 Ramaswamy, Mary
Family Physician, Lower Kodaikanal Hills
69 Ramaswamy, Rajkumar
Family Physician, Lower Kodaikanal Hills
70 RamPrakash, Rajalakshmi
Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Tamil Nadu
71 Rangaswamy Vasundhara
Microbiologist, Independent
72 Rattanani, Jagdish
Director, Foundation of the Billion Press
73 Rattanani, Lekha
Managing Editor, Foundation of the Billion Press
74 Samson Sheetal
Midwife, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderabad
75 Sandhya Gautam
National Alliance of Maternal health & Human Rights
76 Sandhya YK
SAHAYOG
77 Sashi, Latha
Chief Nutritionist, Fernandez Hospital, Hyderabad
78 Seshadri, DVR
Professor, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
79 Shah Rohit
IIT, Bombay, Mohash Research Academy
80 Shankar, Mehul
Student, CMC Vellore
81 Sheshadri, Veena
Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
82 Shiva Mira
Public Health Physician
83 Sisodia, Swati
84 Srinivas, Prashanth
N Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru
85 Srinivasan, Sandhya
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, Mumbai
86 Srivatsan R
87 Suraj Jacob
Visiting Faculty, Azim Premji University
88 Tarakeshwari S
Consultant, Obstetrics Medicine, Fernandez Hospital
89 Tharyan, Prathap
Former Professor of Psychiatry, CMC, Vellore
90 RD Thulsiraj
Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai
91 Vadera, Meenu
Founder and CEO, Azad Foundation
92 Zachariah P
Retired Professor of Physiology, Vellore
93 Zachariah, Anand
Professor of Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore
94 Iyengar, Sharad
Public Health Physician, ARTH