LAHORE: Dozens of Pakistani doctors and nurses have launched a hunger strike demanding adequate protective equipment for frontline staff treating coronavirus patients, the lead organizer of the protest said Saturday.
Health workers have complained for weeks that the country’s hospitals are suffering chronic shortages of safety gear, prompting the arrest of more than 50 doctors who called for more supplies in the city of Quetta earlier this month.
Frontline staff have been left vulnerable, with more than 150 medical workers testing positive for the virus nationwide, according to the Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) in worst-hit Punjab province.
The protesters have kept working in their hospitals while taking turns to demonstrate outside the health authority offices in provincial capital Lahore.
“We do not intend on stopping until the government listens to our demands. They have been consistently refusing to adhere to our demands,” said doctor Salman Haseeb.
Haseeb heads the province’s Grand Health Alliance, which is organizing the protest, and he said he had not eaten since April 16.
“We are on the frontline of this virus and if we are not protected then the whole population is at risk,” he told AFP.
The alliance said about 30 doctors and nurses were on hunger strike, with up to 200 medical staff joining them each day for demonstrations.
Punjab’s health worker union are supporting the alliance and also demanding adequate quarantine conditions for medical staff.
Nearly three dozen doctors, nurses and paramedics contracted the virus in one hospital in the city of Multan, while seven members of a doctor’s family were infected in Lahore, it added.
“We are simply demanding justice for our community,” said doctor and YDA chairman Khizer Hayat.
Hospital staff would not escalate their protest by walking off the job, he added.
Provincial health department officials told AFP that hospitals had now been provided with adequate protection gear after an earlier “backlog” was resolved.
Earlier this month the Punjab government announced that frontline workers will be awarded a pay bonus and life insurance.
Almost half of the nearly 12,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections across Pakistan have been recorded in Punjab.
The number of infections in the country is believed to be far higher because of a lack of testing in the impoverished country of 215 million.
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan officially began in Pakistan on Saturday, with concerns that the light restrictions imposed on mosque gatherings will not stop a potentially rapid spread of the virus.
Frontline medical workers across the world have been grappling with short supplies of vital safety equipment since the start of the pandemic.
Pakistani doctors launch hunger strike over virus protection fears
https://arab.news/g4jtw
Pakistani doctors launch hunger strike over virus protection fears
- The protesters have kept working in their hospitals while taking turns to demonstrate outside the health authority offices in provincial capital Lahore
- The alliance said about 30 doctors and nurses were on hunger strike, with up to 200 medical staff joining them each day for demonstrations
Swiss government bans purchase and import of Russian gas
- Switzerland is tightening restrictions on Russian diplomats accredited in the EU
- It matched the EU’s economic sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine 4 years ago
GENEVA: Switzerland’s government on Wednesday announced that the purchase and import of Russian liquefied natural gas would soon be completely banned, as the Alpine nation aligns itself with the latest round of EU sanctions.
“From 25 April, a complete ban on the purchase and import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) will apply in Switzerland,” the government said in a statement.
It added though that in the case of pre-existing long-term supply contracts, a transition period would apply until the end of the year.
“The measure aims to reduce Russia’s revenues from the sale of fossil fuels, which are a major source of funding for the war against Ukraine,” it said.
The move was among a number of measures adopted by the Swiss government on Wednesday to align with the European Union’s 19th package of sanctions against Russia, adopted by the bloc late last year.
Non-EU member Switzerland has since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago matched the bloc’s economic sanctions on Russia.
Bern said Wednesday it had decided on other measures in the financial sector which will come into force this week, including a ban on providing cryptocurrency services to Russian citizens and companies.
Transactions involving certain rouble-backed cryptocurrencies, such as stablecoin A7A5 have also been banned, the government said, adding that it had also extended the ban on using certain specialized messaging services for payment transactions.
Among other measures decided Wednesday was tightening restrictions on Russian diplomats accredited in the EU, who will now need to give advance notice if they transit through or enter Switzerland.
