GUWAHATI, June 17 - Along with the rest of the country, the entire medical fraternity of the State extended its support to the medical strike called by the Indian Medical Association today, restricting the non-essential medical services, in the wake of violence against doctors in West Bengal.
The medical fraternity is demanding stringent laws to ensure security of doctors and other healthcare providers in hospitals across the country. The protest that had started in Kolkata after junior doctors of NRS Medical College and Hospital were assaulted by the relatives of a deceased person, stirred the entire nation with doctors, junior doctors and hospital staff joining the protest.
Emergency services, however, were kept out of the purview of the strike.
In Guwahati, the OPDs of the hospitals mostly remained closed as part of the strike. The Junior Doctors� Association of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, which boycotted the non-essential medical services, today protested in front of the GMCH Superintendent�s office against the attack on doctors. The junior doctors, students, interns, doctors and faculty of the GMCH took part in the protest demonstration.
The OPD and other non-essential medical services will resume tomorrow morning.
�The protest highlighted the need to ensure security of the doctors and medical staff and the impact of such mob violence on the medical services. A streetplay was also staged by the GMCH students in the hospital compound to generate awareness on what kind of situation prevails in the emergency departments of hospitals and how such incidents affect us,� said Sachin Kumar Sah, general secretary of the GMCH Students� Union.
GNRC Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Pratiksha Hospital, Dispur Hospital, Down Town Hospital and Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital among others, extended support to the strike.
