New Delhi,  The Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana, said on Thursday that doctors have emerged as heroes without capes during the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that it is saddening to see them being brutally attacked while on duty.

Delivering his speech on the occasion of National Doctors' Day at a 'Defeat Diabetes Launch Campaign', Ramana said that unless one sees doctors working personally, he/she can't visualise the discomfort of being in a PPE kit non-stop for 24 hours in day, and sometimes even for days together with no rest or proper food.

"My salute to all the heroes without capes," he added.

Deploring the brutal attacks on doctors, especially amid the raging pandemic, he said, "It is saddening that our doctors are being brutally attacked while on duty. Why is it that the medical professionals are at the receiving end for someone else's failure?"

He pointed out that issues such as insufficient number of medical professionals, infrastructure, medicines, outdated technologies, and government not giving priority to the medical sector are issues of immediate concern.

"Why is it that profiteering by corporates and investors is being blamed on doctors," he asked.

Ramana said that his heartfelt sympathies go to the families of more than 798 doctors who lost their lives in the deadly second wave of the pandemic.

"Owing to the nature of the disease itself, thousands of doctors and healthcare workers have been separated from their families during these difficult times. No amount of medical training or experience can ever prepare anyone to go through the psychological ordeals of the pandemic," he added.

Ramana also said that the pandemic has inflicted huge economic losses on the country and the world as a whole and emphasised that "it should wake us up to the reality that there is no substitute for free and universal public healthcare system with focus on disease prevention."

He insisted that there should be a comprehensive policy framework in place where the awareness campaign is also made a part of the 'diabetes eradication programme'.

"For the programme to be successful, the same has to be integrated into a free and universal public healthcare system. Left to individuals, we will never reach the goal," he added.

The CJI added that given the enormity of the challenge, it is essential to design diabetes awareness campaigns at the scale of anti-tobacco and pulse polio campaigns.