8 months ago
Meitei and Kuki Doctors Collaborate to Save Lives in Manipur
In the state of Manipur, India, doctors and nurses from two different communities, Meitei and Kuki, have been working together to save lives.
They are part of a project called 10BedICU, which helps set up intensive care units in smaller hospitals.
Even though there has been a lot of fighting between these two communities since May 2023, the healthcare workers have been focusing on their jobs and helping patients.
They use technology to work together from different places.
One example is when they saved an 11-month-old baby who was very sick.
The doctors say that trust, skill, and teamwork are what keep them going.
The conflict has been very bad, with many people killed and displaced, but these healthcare workers are showing that they can still work together to help others.
Meitei and Kuki doctors and nurses in Manipur collaborate to save lives despite ethnic conflict.
They are part of the 10BedICU project, which sets up ICU infrastructure in rural hospitals.
The conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities started in May 2023.
Healthcare workers use technology to coordinate remotely and save lives, such as treating an 11-month-old girl in status epilepticus.
Over 1,550 critically ill patients have been treated at the Churachandpur Spoke ICU.
- Who
- Meitei and Kuki doctors and nurses in Manipur
- What
- Collaboration to save lives despite ethnic conflict
- Where
- Manipur, India (JNIMS in Imphal and Churachandpur District Hospital)
- When
- Ongoing since May 2023
- Why
- To provide critical care and save lives amidst conflict
Key facts
- Project Name
- 10BedICU
- Founder
- Srikanth Nadhamuni
- National Lead
- Bisoya Loitongbam
- Conflict Start Date
- May 2023
- Death Toll
- Over 260
- Displaced People
- Nearly 50,000
- Critical Patients Treated
- More than 1,550
- Example Case
- 11-month-old girl in status epilepticus
Quotes
Bisoya Loitongbam
National lead of the '10BedICU' project
“At the 10BedICU Spoke ICU at Churachandpur District Hospital, Manipur, this coordination has endured despite disruptions driven by conflict and vested interests - disruptions that do not reflect the intent of most ordinary people. What keeps this going is not infrastructure alone, but trust, clinical skill, and sustained coordination across communities, focused only on saving lives”
NDTV
“Over the last couple of years, health workers belonging to the two warring communities - Meitei critical care specialists at JNIMS [in Imphal] and Kuki doctors and nurses at the Spoke [in Churachandpur] - have continued to work together, quietly and consistently, to save lives”
NDTV
