The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded airport-like three-layered security in hospitals, a day after an ambulance was set on fire by relatives of a Covid-19 victim in Karnataka’s Belagavi (or Belgaum) district.
The medical body, in a statement, said, “Violence in Civil Hospital, Belgaum following the death of a Covid patient and torching of government ambulances is a new low in our culture. When doctors and the authorities are fighting the epidemic this appears to be an aberration.
“Hospital violence has been condoned in our society as a natural phenomenon borne out of sudden bereavement. The tolerance of such an act is leading to a culture heralding dark ages. It defies logic to understand a mind setting fire to an ambulance.”
The IMA also said hospitals were “victims” of false perceptions and doctors often the “soft targets” of violence. “We require a comprehensive solution of a powerful deterrent central law, hospitals to be declared as safe zones and provided with three-layered security like airports and solid investment in health with public infrastructure and human resources as the focus,” the top medical body said.
