Many patients seeking treatment at public hospitals in the capital Dhaka and other districts returned home without medical services on Wednesday as doctors staged protests to press for their demands.
Later in the evening the doctors withdrew their strike after a meeting with senior officials of the health ministry, following a High Court ruling restricting diploma medical assistants and others from using the title ‘doctor’, which was their foremost demand.
The doctors stated that since one of their demands was met, they hoped that the government would meet their other key demands, including appointing doctors in vacant posts, updating the over-the-counter drug list and enacting a doctor’s protection act.
Doctors United Council general secretary Md Moyeen Uddin Chisti said that they withdrew their protest programme on assurances from the authorities.
‘From Thursday (today) all services will resume fully,’ he said.
On Wednesday, patients and attendants expressed frustration, saying that they travelled long distances to see doctors but were denied tickets due to the absence of medical professionals at hospitals.
‘We are suffering terribly, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan,’ said Kulsum Begum, mother of patient Sanvir Hossain, a resident of Beraid in the Dhaka city.
While waiting outside the Dhaka Medical College Hospital outpatient department, she lamented, ‘If we had been informed earlier, we wouldn’t have come.’
No new outpatients were admitted to or discharged from hospitals on Wednesday due to the strike.
DMCH officials said that they usually admitted to and released 100–120 patients daily, but this process was disrupted on the day.
Different platforms of doctors and medical students had earlier called for work abstention and a gathering at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital Wednesday morning to press for their demands.
Their demands include prohibiting the use of the title ‘doctor’ without an MBBS or BDS degree, appointing doctors to all vacant posts and ensuring the safety of medical professionals.
Hospital sources said the doctors and medical students from various public and private medical colleges and hospitals began gathering at the Shaheed Minar at about 10:00am.
Healthcare services at the DMCH, the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery and the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College were fully suspended.
Services were also largely disrupted at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital and the Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, and the other hospitals in the capital and divisional cities.
At about 12:45pm, the High Court ruled that the medical diploma holders could no longer use the title ‘doctor’ and directed the government to designate an alternative title for them within six months.
A bench comprising Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Shathika Hossain delivered the ruling while disposing of two separate writ petitions filed on November 24, 2024 and in 2013.
The court also instructed current students not to use the title in the interim.
Following the ruling, demonstrating doctors marched to the secretariat in the capital to press for their remaining demands.
However, police blocked them near Shikkha Bhaban. A 15-member delegation from the protesters was later allowed to enter the secretariat for discussions.
In Chattogram, Chittagong Medical College Hospital doctors observed a work stoppage, and medical students boycotted classes in solidarity with the protest, reports ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· staff correspondent in Chattogram.
Due to the strike, outpatient services at the CMCH remained suspended from Wednesday morning, causing significant sufferings for the patients who had travelled long distances to take treatment at the hospital.
Marjina Begum, a homemaker from Cox’s Bazar, was scheduled for a tumour surgery.
‘My operation was set for today (Wednesday). I was here on Monday for tests, and they told me to return with the reports. But now, they are not even issuing tickets. I arrived at about 7:00am, and we are being harassed unnecessarily,’ she said.
CMCH director Brigadier General Taslim Uddin said that the outpatient department was affected, but emergency services, including the ICU and the CCU, were still functioning.
Senior doctors in various wards continued attending to patients to minimise disruptions, he added.
¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· Barishal correspondent reports: outpatient treatment at the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal was suspended due to the strike on Wednesday.
Hundreds of patients of various ages came to the hospital but returned without receiving treatment.