COVID-19: UK Oppn joins calls for probe into higher ethnic minority deaths
London: The UK's Opposition Labour Party on Saturday joined calls alongside Indian-origin doctors for a probe into the disproportionate number of black and minority ethnic (BAME) medics dying from the novel coronavirus in the country.
The move comes as UK health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that 19 National Health Service (NHS) workers have died with coronavirus since the outbreak began, around 10 of whom were of BAME backgrounds including Indian-origin doctors.
The disproportionate number of BAME doctors who have died from coronavirus is deeply disturbing, said Marsha de Cordova, Labour's Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary.
It reflects the shocking underlying inequalities facing BAME communities as a whole - who are disproportionately represented in the numbers of people getting the virus. The government must urgently investigate why BAME communities are more vulnerable to this virus, she said.
The shadow minister's intervention came as the British Medical Association (BMA) doctors' union and the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) also called for similar in-depth research and investigation.
We have heard the virus does not discriminate between individuals but there's no doubt there appears to be a manifest disproportionate severity of infection in BAME people and doctors.
This has to be addressed - the government must act now, said Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA Council Chair, alongside a wider plea for better access to personal protective equipment (PPE) for medics working on the frontlines of the pandemic in NHS hospitals.
While it remains unclear whether the lack of PPE is directly linked to the recorded deaths of doctors in the UK so far, the BMA council chief urged action on assessing the factors behind the large numbers of BAME doctors and nurses among the victims of the deadly virus.
It comes days after BAPIO wrote to the Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Chris Whitty, and Medical Director of NHS England Stephen Powis requesting all the official data available on COVID-19 hospital admissions for an in-depth research into the greater susceptibility of BAME and Indian-origin patients developing more severe symptoms of coronavirus and dying of COVID-19.
BAPIO said: We need a better understanding of the issues of BAME mortality in the context of the general population, particularly if it helps us manage sick and vulnerable groups, and so that we can be accurate in our messaging.
We are therefore asking that the data for COVID-19 cases, and most certainly those who have died as a result of the illness, incorporates ethnicity and profession, as well as the usual demographic data.
Indian-origin cardiac surgeon from Wales, 58-year-old Jitendra Kumar Rathod, originally from Gujarat, and Birmingham-based Hamza Pacheeri, 80, from Kerala are among the Indian-origin doctors who have died of coroavirus.
Indian-origin doctors make up a major chunk of the NHS workforce in the UK and BAPIO, their representative group, is urging the authorities to deploy senior and retired medics away from frontline duties until more evidence can be collated on the ethnic variables for COVID-19.
The UK's Department of Health has said it is working to protect all communities and has repeatedly pledged a boost to PPE supplies for NHS medical staff.
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UN: India calls on international community to act together against ISIS, Al Qaeda
United Nations (PTI): India has called on the international community to act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies, underlining that terrorism is an “existential threat” to international peace and security.
“Terrorism is an existential threat to international peace and security. It knows no borders, nationality, or race, and is a challenge that the international community must combat collectively,” First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Raghoo Puri said on Wednesday.
In remarks to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) annual ambassadorial level briefing to Member States, Puri recalled the April 2025 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, carried out by The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN listed terror organisation. The terror attack led to the loss of lives of 26 tourists.
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“We must act together against ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies,” he said, adding that as a country which itself has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for the past nearly three decades, “India is acutely aware of the socio-economic and human cost of terrorism, especially for its victims.”
India added its voice in stressing on the importance of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) as a central instrument for multilateral cooperation.
Puri said India will remain steadfast and engaged in the consultations for the 9th review of the GCTS, assuring full cooperation to co-facilitators Finland and Morocco during negotiations in the process.
Puri also highlighted that as Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee in 2022, India has striven to bring these principles into the counter-terrorism architecture of the UN and into the debate on terrorism at the United Nations.
“Our follow up initiatives both in New York and around the world stand testimony to our commitment,” including the ‘Delhi Declaration’ - a landmark document to deal with the issue of countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, an issue Puri said is of acute importance for several Member States.
In October 2022, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), chaired by India that year, had organised a special meeting in New Delhi and Mumbai on the overarching theme of ‘Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes’.
As an outcome of the special meeting, the committee had adopted the ‘Delhi Declaration’ on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
India continues to work closely with the UN via its various entities to build capacity and make its partners future ready to take on the ever-evolving scourge of terrorism, he said.
