DMCH interns call off strike

Honorary doctors and interns at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital have called off their strike they had enforced demanding arrest of the attackers of five fellow doctors of the hospital.

“The interns and honorary physicians will return to their duties at 8:00pm,” Mostofa Rezwan Siddiky, an honorary doctor of the hospital, told The Daily Star.

A case was lodged with the Shahbagh Police Station against the attackers and an arrest warrant was also issued following the lawsuit, he said.  

“Noticing the progress, we have withdrawn the strike,” Siddiky added.  

Emergency services will remain out of the purview of the strike, BMA President Prof Mahmud Hasan said while announcing the programme at a press conference at BMA Bhaban in the capital's Paltan area.

The honorary physicians and interns declared the extension of their agitation from a human chain that began at the Central Shaheed Minar premises around 11:30am and continued for nearly one hour.

As tomorrow is a public holiday on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, the agitators have decided to extend their 48-hour strike that began yesterday noon, Dr Rezwan, an honorary physician of DMCH, told The Daily Star.

BMA PRESS CONFERENCE

While announcing the programme, Prof Mahmud said the doctors will abstain from work for an hour and also form human chains in front of their respective institutions on Wednesday.  

He also called upon the doctors across the country to wear black badges on that day protesting the recent attacks on the honorary doctors and interns.

As part of their protest programme, the doctors will refrain from private practice for two hours from 5:00pm on May 15, the BMA president said.

The association will also form a human chain at Shahbagh intersection in the capital on the same day demanding doctors’ safety at workplaces across the country.

Due to the ongoing strike, medical services are being disrupted at all units of the DMCH.

Only government-appointed doctors are seen attending to the patients at emergency and outdoor units at the country's biggest hospital with 2,400 beds.

BACKGROUND

Dr Mominul (Pinu), honorary doctor at the DMCH, was seriously injured in the attack while four of his colleagues managed to escape. He is now receiving treatment at the intensive care unit of the DMCH.

According to the hospital authorities, about 920 honorary doctors, 67 interns and 312 government-appointed physicians work at the DMCH.

The DMCH authorities yesterday filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station against 10 to 12 miscreants, including three students of Dhaka University.