DMCH intern doctors join nationwide work strike

Intern doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) have joined an indefinite work strike from Sunday morning in solidarity with a nationwide movement led by the Bangladesh Combined Intern Doctors’ Unity Council, pressing a six-point set of demands.

The decision came after the DMCH Intern Doctors’ Society issued an emergency notice on Saturday night, declaring their participation in the ongoing protest. The notice was signed by the organisation’s president Dr Mostafa Amir Faisal and general secretary Dr Nabil Bin Kashem.

The protesting interns said the action has been taken in response to what they termed discriminatory and unreasonable proposals in the Ministry of Health’s FCPS training policy, along with issues including excessive admission fees, inadequate stipends for interns and trainee doctors, workplace insecurity, and uncertainty regarding salary structures in the private healthcare sector.

They further stated that repeated appeals, protests and assurances from authorities have failed to produce any visible or effective resolution, prompting the continuation of the boycott until their demands are met.

The six-point charter includes cancellation of policy proposals regarding postings of FCPS Part-1 qualified private trainees, reduction of admission test fees for BMU and BCPS to Tk 500-1,000, a minimum stipend of Tk 30,000 for interns under the new pay scale, placement of trainee doctors under Grade 9, enactment of a health protection law, raising the BCS health service entry age limit to 34 years and a clear wage structure for private-sector doctors under the Labour Act 2006.

DMCH Intern Doctors’ Society Assistant General Secretary Dr Ashraf Siddiki said the boycott began in the morning and would continue until the demands are addressed through meaningful discussions with the authorities.

TZ