April 17, 2020 (Nyala) Recently, assualts on doctors have escalated in a number of hospitals in the capital, Khartoum and some states, despite warnings and messages of solidarity with the doctors by the government.
However, the government described them as the “White Army”, which stands in the front line of defense for the country to confront Coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah Hamdok, described the phenomenon of attacks on doctors and medical personnel in the hospitals, as a shameful act.
In a tweet on his official account, prime minister , Abdallah Hamdouk said “The attacks on doctors and medical personnel in hospitals and their other workplaces are shameful, disgraceful and totally unacceptable in this critical period that the country is going through”
Abdallah Hamadouk praised the medical cadres as the heroes who stand on the country’s front line of defense in the face of the global threat of the spread of Corona virus, in addition to their prominent and influential role during the glorious December revolution.
Hamdouk stressed that the government will not compromise in taking all necessary measures, including decisive legal actions, to protect health personnel and maintain their security and safety in their workplaces. In the past two weeks, there have been a number of assaults on doctors, the last of which was Thursday evening at the Nyala Teaching Hospital, where one of the doctors was beaten by one of the companions of a patient who died while receiving treatment in the hospital. However, according to the Director General of the Nyala Teaching Hospital, Dr. Abd al-Rahim, the patient was transferred from the Raheed Al-Bardi Hospital, and initial tests proved that she needed to have urgent surgery to extract quantities of water in her chest, which caused her shortness of breath, and mentioned that during the surgical operation the patient died and when the doctor came out To inform them of the death, one of her companions became angry and beat the doctor, and the family of the deceased refused to receive the body and demanded an autopsy. Meanwhile, the hospital administration intervened to calm the situation, explaining to them that an autopsy requires an invitation to a forensic specialist from Khartoum, but his arrival to Nyala is impossible these days because of travel stops in the country, adding: “In light of the request from the deceased families to dissect the corpse, it was agreed between them and the administration The hospital is to transfer the body to the Sudanese Turkish Hospital in Nyala, due to the availability of medical capabilities for the autopsy. Abdel-Rahim said that the hospital administration had filed a complaint against the aggressor, after he was arrested by the forces in charge of protecting the hospital staff and he was placed in custody for several days. Two weeks ago, Nyala Specialist Hospital witnessed an assault on a number of medical personnel, by a group of people accompanying one of the patients. One of the assailants was arrested, while initial investigation revealed that he was a soldier of the Rapid Support Forces. As for the state of East Darfur, specifically the city of Al-Daein, there was an incident of RSF officers assaulting a specialist doctor in the hospital, after the death of a child due to the delay of her rescue for about 6 hours inside the hospital after she was involved in a traffic accident. Tensions rose between doctors and the state government due to this issue, after the state government had issued a statement that did not live up to doctors, demands . so, they decided to leave the state, and although the statement responded to a number of doctors ’demands, they considered it as a gesture of good will and a signal to investigate the incident , to see if there was a default or neglect of Doctors led to the death of the child. The decision of the doctors to leave the state of East Darfur found widespread criticism from activists in the state ,given the fact that the victim of this decision is neither the state government nor the officer who assaulted the doctor, but rather all citizens of the state. Hospitals in the capital, Khartoum, have witnessed a number of cases of assaults on doctors, a matter that poses a question: Why do people assault doctors rather than other employees ..? A number of citizens in the city of Nyala surveyed by Darfur 24 agreed that the negativity of the doctors in dealing with the sick and injured cases is what causes the companions of the patients to attack them. While an employee of the Ministry of Health – preferably withholding his name – sees that new doctors are more likely to be attacked by the patient’s companions, and he mentioned that the old doctors are more responsive and understanding of the patient’s companions. In light of this situation inside Sudan’s hospitals , the Federal Ministry of Health is working on preparing a draft law to protect medical personnel from assualts in hospitals. However, Sudan’ Minister of Health Akram Al Tom said last week that the draft law will be presented to the transitional government institutions for its approval, then it will be enforced to protect doctors and medical personnel from any assaults.