Reports point to a broad and worrying pattern rather than isolated incidents, characterised by physical assaults, threats and vandalism, often committed by the patients’ relatives following their deaths.
WMA President Dr. Jacqueline Kitulu said: “No physician, nurse or another health worker should have to fear for their safety while caring for patients. Violence against health care harms far more than its immediate victims. It disrupts care, drives away the professionals a health system depends on, and erodes the public trust that medicine is built on. We urge the Government of Bangladesh to treat this as a priority and to work with the medical profession to make every health facility a safe place to give and receive care.”
The WMA calls on the Government to adopt effective measures to protect health personnel and facilities, to investigate every attack and bring those responsible to justice, to strengthen prevention, reporting and monitoring, and to address the root causes within the healthcare sector.
