Doctors strike disrupts health services in Kerala

Health services in the state were disrupted on Friday following the one-day statewide strike launched by doctors in protest against the rising attacks on health workers.

The protest was also against the failure of the police in arresting the culprits who attacked a medical practitioner at Fathima Hospital, Kozhikode, even a week after the incident.

The doctors stayed away from work from 6am to 6pm, and the outpatient department in hospitals and clinics remained closed. The casualty, emergency and intensive care units functioned normally.

Though the strike was announced 4-5 days back, patients were seen coming to consult the doctors. 60-year-old Udayamperoor native Santha, who came to consult an ophthalmologist at the General Hospital, Ernakulam, was not aware of the strike. “I came here on Thursday evening to avoid the rush. However, only in the morning, I knew that the doctor will not come. I am not going home. I will wait here to consult him tomorrow (Saturday),” said Santha.

In the meantime, doctors staged a dharna in front of the district collectorate as part of the strike. Doctors A V Babu and Abraham Varghese, while inaugurating the dharna, warned that the doctors under the leadership of the Indian Medical Association would intensify their protests if attacks on medical professionals and healthcare workers continued. Around 1,000 doctors from across the district attended the event. The New Indian Express