PESHAWAR: Provincial Doctors Association has expressed concern over lack of security at hospitals and demanded of the government to immediately implement Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2020, to protect healthcare providers from violence.

On the call of the association, doctors observed black day on Tuesday throughout the province to press the government for enforcement of the law, passed almost five years ago, to ensure safety of caregivers at hospitals.

Talking to Dawn, PDA chairman Dr Zubair Zahir deplored that the recent case of acid-throwing at Dr Mah Noor Nasir in Quetta was a grim reminder of an endless series of violence against doctors. In most of the cases perpetrators went scot-free, he added.

“The list of doctors murdered at hospitals is too long and painful, especially lady doctors, who served people despite hardships. Such incidents, if not stopped, will deprive women patients of healthcare in the country, particularly in remote areas where female patients prefer to be seen by lady doctors,” he said.

He said that the killing of Dr Warda Mushtaq in Abbottabad in December last year and Dr Mehwish Hasnain in Kohat in February in the current year sent a wave of fear among lady doctors, who were concerned about their lives. The families of female doctors were extremely concerned about the situation in which their daughters, wives and sisters worked, he said.

“We demand of the government to announce Shuhada Package for both the doctors and bring to justice their killers and remove the prevalent unrest among the medical fraternity,” said Dr Zubair.

He said that the gruesome killing of Dr Izatulllah in Mardan and Dr Asma Rani in Kohat in recent years were other examples that violence significantly disrupted healthcare delivery in a province where such services were not up to a desired level.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026