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Doctors and medical interns observed work abstention in government hospitals across the country on Wednesday causing immense suffering to patients as well as their attendants.
Agitators said at one time of the day they called off their strike upon assurance from the government to meet their five-point demand but they resumed their protests later following a tussle with the police.
Meanwhile, their key demand was met in a court order on the same day.
The High Court on Wednesday ordered not to use 'Doctor' before the name of any individuals without obtaining the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degrees.
Habibur Rahman Sohag, a postgraduate medical student and one of the coordinators of the protest platform, briefed reporters about the strike.
"The other demands are time-consuming and the government assured us of meeting them gradually. Therefore, we suspended our strike upon the government's assurance," he added.
Earlier they demanded that no misleading title like 'Diploma Doctor' can be introduced in Bangladesh, which does not exist in the World Health Organization or anywhere in the world.
Protesters sat with the government officials concerned in the evening and announced the decision in late evening.
The doctors and interns observed strikes in government hospitals across the country to press for their five-point demand. Their strike caused sufferings across hospitals.
The hospitals' outpatient and inpatient services were announced to be closed during this programme.
Some hospitals including the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), the Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital, and the Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital saw huge crowds of patients in their outpatient departments.
Meanwhile, the outpatient department at Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital was completely closed.
As the doctors were not aware of the programme, a crowd of patients had been seen there since morning. Many were waiting for a while and leaving, while many were roaming there again.
However, the emergency medical departments including the ICU and CCU were open.
After holding a day-long programme under the banner of 'doctors and medical students at all levels' on Tuesday, the strike was announced at a press conference at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Nadim Hossain, an intern physician at Dhaka Medical College, announced the new programme with five demands.
Their other demands are-- a notification must be issued stating that 'no one other than a registered doctor (MBBS / BDS) will be able to independently run private practice.
A special campaign must be conducted to re-define their course curriculum and close all substandard MATS (Medical Assistant Training Schools) within the next seven working days.
To ensure public health care, an adequate number of doctors must be appointed to vacant positions and the BCS age limit for doctors must be raised to 34 years.
A doctor protection law must be immediately enacted and a specific pay scale must be created for private doctors.
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