Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen on Sunday said the government will not tolerate attacks on doctors and will also take action for medical negligence by professionals.
In reference to the recent incidents of doctors being assaulted in Chittagong, the minister said doctors should give their full effort to treat their patients, and the rest will be taken care of by the ministry.
“It has been three months of my new role as a minister. Wherever I have gone in this short time, everyone has told me that I am a minister for the doctors. I am also a minister for the patients,” the minister said while speaking at an orientation program of the newly appointed doctors at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital.
Samanta Lal said: “I will extend my full cooperation for the well-being of the medical professionals simultaneously; I am expecting good behaviours from doctors towards service-seeking people in the country.”
He said: “Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of providing healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of the common people. I think you (doctors) are the main architects to fulfil the dream of Bangabandhu by ensuring treatment facilities for all.”
The director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Md Khurshid Alam, and the DG of the Directorate of Family Welfare, Sahan Ara Banu, among others, were present at the program.
Earlier, on-duty doctor Raktim Das was badly beaten up at the Patiya General Hospital in Chittagong, for his alleged delay in treating a patient on April 10. Four days later, an attack was carried out on another doctor of Chittagong Medical Centre Hospital, Riaz Uddin Shiblu, in connection with the death of a patient suffering from pneumonia.
On April 18, the minister said that the government is considering enacting a law to ensure the security and safety of doctors across the country. The Doctors’ Protection Act will be placed in Parliament and passed at any cost.
Condemning recent attacks and assaults on doctors in several areas of the country, he said beating up service providers cannot bring any good to anyone.
In another instance, the minister said that strikes called by doctors cannot be ethical in any way. “I never want my doctors to go on strikes. I am working to keep them happy,” he said.
