Intern doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the authorities to fulfil their four-point demand, including punishment of those involved in the recent assault on physicians.
The announcement was made at a press conference held in front of the hospital’s administrative block on Saturday afternoon in which the protesters also warned nationwide protests if their demands were not met.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital Intern Doctors’ Society general secretary Nabil Bin Kashem said that the recommendations of the six-member probe committee, formed following the incident, reflected most of the demands raised by the interns and that they now expected the authorities to act immediately.
He further said that they were monitoring the situation for the next 48 hours and would announce stricter programmes, including simultaneous protests across medical colleges nationwide, if visible measures were not taken.
The intern doctors demanded immediate identification and exemplary punishment of those involved in the assault on physicians and urged Dhaka University authorities to disclose the identities of the students responsible and ensure disciplinary action.
They also demanded immediate action to ensure safety of both healthcare providers and patients, permanent deployment of armed police at the hospital’s emergency department and issuance of official notices outlining punitive measures for future attacks on medical staff.
Earlier on the day, intern doctors brought out a protest procession from the Dhaka Medical College premises and later met members of the investigation committee.
The unrest followed a clash between intern doctors and students of Dhaka University’s Amar Ekushey Hall at the hospital’s emergency department on Wednesday afternoon, disrupting medical services.
According to eyewitnesses and hospital sources, a Dhaka University student went to the emergency department at about 5:30pm with fever and stomach pain and was later diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.
The on-duty physician prescribed several medicines which were not available at the hospital.
The student later reportedly returned and engaged in an altercation with the doctor as he could not buy the medicine.
Later, the patient came with several other students, leading to an argument and scuffle with doctors, during which a physician was allegedly dragged and threatened.
Police and Ansar members later brought the situation under control.
Intern doctors also referred to a recent attack on physicians at Dinajpur Medical College and warned that repeated incidents of violence in hospitals were creating fear among healthcare providers, making it difficult to ensure uninterrupted medical services.
