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Respecting patient privacy

April 10, 2020
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A memorandum signed by doctors and endorsed by us, asking that patient privacy be maintained to guard against stigmatisation.

Letter to All Media Houses & Editors

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.

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.

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 (as of 10Apr2020)

  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, 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

The memorandum was published online by The Hindu BusinessLine newspaper on 10April2020

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