On Wednesday March 18, the Hindu American Foundation hosted a special webinar entitled “COVID-19 Education & Awareness” featuring former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and including a star-studded panel of expert Indian American physicians from across the country who gathered in a virtual setting to provide up-to-date information on the novel virus to the American public.

The HAF COVID-19 webinar attracted over 1000 registrants and over 800 participants from India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kuwait, and 30 US states and the District of Columbia.

Key topics of the discussion covered why COVID-19 is a public health emergency, why the disease is different, more serious and more urgent. Other topics that were covered include the steps people should take now, when someone should seek testing, how it spreads, how it’s different from the common flu, the impact of the disease on children, important medical definitions, and tools for managing stress and anxiety during and beyond the current crisis.

“We’re thankful to the doctors in HAF’s network for offering their time and expertise to educate attendees with best practices to stay healthy, provide reliable resources for the latest information, and ways to allay growing anxiety,” said HAF Executive Director Suhag Shukla, Esq.

“We’re also especially grateful to healthcare providers around the world for their work on the front lines of this global pandemic and the personal sacrifices they’re making in caring for people suffering from this fast-spreading disease.”

Panelists included Dr. Vivek H. Murthy; Dr. Lavannya Pandit, Staff Physician at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas; HAF Board Member Dr. Mihir Meghani, Emergency Medicine Physician at Kaiser Permanente, East Bay, California; HAF Board Member Dr. Rajiv Pandit, Section Chief of Otolaryngology at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; Dr. Abhay Dandekar, Pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California; and HAF National Leadership Council member Dr. Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria, Clinical Psychologist at Quince Orchard Psychotherapy.

HAF Co-Founder Dr. Aseem Shukla, Endowed Chair and Associate Professor of Urology at the University of Pennsylvania, moderated the discussion.

“We also deeply appreciate the support of Dr. Anita Joshi and Dr. Arun Jain from Carmel, Indiana, and Subash & Sarojini Gupta from Sugar Land, Texas for sponsoring this important program,” stated Shukla. “The Hindu American Foundation is pleased to offer this programming to our community and we are in the process of planning even more webinars on this and other relevant topics in the weeks ahead,” she said.

Listen to the webinar:

 

Legal disclaimer: The information provided on the HAF webinar does not constitute medical advice. Consult with your physician, and with your state and local recommendations. You can stay up to date on current information and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

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