Hosted by Divina Ann Philipose and Chirag Chinnappa
Edited by Manasi Nene
As we come to the end of three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is another related medical issue – Long COVID, or its more-commonly term of ‘Post-COVID’ symptoms. Although patients have mostly reported heart problems, respiratory troubles, and symptoms of fatigue, there are over 200 symptoms (such as tinnitus, changes in menstrual cycles, depression and others) that make up the spectrum of what we understand as Long COVID. So what exactly has the experience of treating Long COVID looked like in India, and how can our public health system rise to this challenge?
We spoke to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, co-author of “Till We Win: India’s Fight Against The Covid-19 Pandemic” to understand the perspectives of doctors and the system at large when it comes to treating symptoms of Long COVID, along with journalist Padma Priya D, who founded the India Covid Survivor Group, and Sourya Dash, a patient with lived experience of the chronic illness.