PESHAWAR: Young Doctors Association has announced strike against non-implementation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Healthcare Service Providers and Facilities (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2020, aimed at safeguarding healthcare workers, patients and establishments against unlawful activities disrupting healthcare services.

Health Minister Khaliqur Rehman said that government was taking measures to protect healthcare workers against violence in hospitals. “We have already made commitment with doctors to announce a committee to pave way for enforcement of the law next week,” he added.

However, Young Doctors Association (YDA) said that the strike would start today (Tuesday) in all hospitals of the province, except Lady Hospital and Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar.

“His (minister’s) commitment was to recommend the name of Dr Mehwish Hasnain for Sitara-i-Imtiaz and announce Shuhada package to her family. We demand implementation of the law in writing,” YDA president Dr Asfandyar Bittani said.

Minister says govt already taking measures to safeguard medics against violence

Enforcement of the law, passed by the provincial assembly in 2020, has been the longstanding demand of healthcare providers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The demand picked momentum after the murder of Dr Mehwish Hasnain, a female medical officer in Kohat, on February 22. Police claimed to have arrested two killers of Dr Mehwish.

Doctors say that government has been dragging feet on the enforcement of law due to which medics feel insecure, especially female health workers, who are often subjected to physical attacks at workplaces. According to them, they do understand that the protest hits patients hard in public sector hospitals because they are not getting medical services.

However, doctors have been facing criticism that not only private clinics outside hospitals remain open but even consultants continue institution-based practice (IBP) inside hospitals to examine patients by charging fee from them.

In September last year, a strike by doctors in Hayatabad Medial Complex with employees of provincial tuberculosis control programme had left patients without elective services for a couple of days. However, patients were seen by doctors in IBP at the same hospital after paying consultation fee.

This is happening too often but the government is unmoved to resolve the matter once and for all. Healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses and paramedics face violence in hospitals but perpetrators remain scot-free.

A study titled “prevalence of determinants of violence against healthcare worker” was conducted by Khyber Medical University on the basis of which the law was passed by the assembly. The study said that of the 51 per cent violence, 45 per cent was verbal and 24 per cent physical in hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It said that two-thirds of culprits were either attendants or relatives or patients, mostly in emergency departments. The study was conducted in Peshawar district from April to November of 2017. It was published in UK-based BMC Public Health journal in 2021.

The study suggests awareness of development and implementation of “zero tolerance policy for violence in healthcare settings”, filling gaps in legislation and establishment of incident reporting mechanism by provincial health department, administration of hospitals and other monitoring bodies.

It said that all public and private healthcare facilities should train healthcare workers on de-escalation of violence, effective communication and conflict resolution skills and ethics and healthcare facilities. It said that health department and local law enforcement agencies needed to take measures to improve hospital and staff security and strengthen coordination.

It recommended improving facilitation of patients and attendants through displaying clear signposting and information desks, waiting areas, one attendant policy and improvement of quality of healthcare services in addition to engagement of media, community elders and religious influencers to raise awareness and counter cultural barriers to increased respect for healthcare.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2026