Doctors across Bangladesh have declared a “complete shutdown” of all public and private hospitals starting Sunday, demanding a safe working environment after an attack on doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Dr Abdul Ahad made the announcement around 12:30pm at DMCH.
He said that they will brief their demands at 2pm and nurses have also shown solidarity with the doctors.
The doctors' demands include the arrest and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators, deployment of security forces, including the army, at hospitals nationwide, recruitment of police under the Directorate General of Health Services, and the enactment and implementation of health safety laws.
They warned that until their demands are met, there will be a complete shutdown of all medical services, including operations, at both public and private hospitals.
Two separate incidents on Saturday sparked the strike.
The first incident involved a commotion at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) following allegations of negligence in treating a critically injured private university student, which led to his death.
The deceased student was identified as Ahsanul Islam, 25, a student of the Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT). The student's death due to alleged medical negligence led to the assault on a doctor. The situation at DMCH remained tense from afternoon till night.
According to hospital sources, BUBT student Ahsanul Islam was critically injured in a road accident while returning to Mirpur from the airport on his motorcycle around 10pm on Friday.
People nearby rescued him and initially took him to Kurmitola General Hospital, and later, he was transferred to DMCH, where he died on Saturday morning.
DMCH police outpost in-charge Inspector Bachchu Mia on Saturday night said that following the news of the BUBT student’s death, his classmates and relatives arrived at DMCH. They raised allegations of medical negligence against the doctors, leading to disturbances.
Later that night, some injured individuals from a clash between two groups in the Khilgaon area came to DMCH for treatment.
Subsequently, members of the opposing group entered the emergency department, wielding machetes and other weapons.
At that time, four individuals were caught red-handed and handed over to the army by the hospital authorities.
When the army tried to take control of the situation, the doctors and students refused to leave their positions. The doctors demanded the arrest of the culprits based on CCTV footage.
On Sunday morning, the intern doctors of the emergency department initially announced a work absentation.