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Abstract
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Hundreds of incidents of violence and harassment have been recorded, but these are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. Sharmila Devi reports.
More than 600 incidents of violence, harassment, or stigmatisation took place against health-care workers, patients, and medical infrastructure in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement on Aug 18.
These incidents were probably only the "tip of the iceberg", with many others unrecorded, Maciej Polkowski, the head of the ICRC's Health Care in Danger initiative, told The Lancet. "Unfortunately, these figures were not a surprise because violence is often exacerbated by emergencies", he said. "We know from cross-sectional studies that the majority of health workers have experienced violence in the workplace that varies from country to country and their thresholds of violence."
The ICRC said that 611 incidents were recorded between Feb 1 and July 31, 2020. Although patients and medical infrastructure were often targeted, 67% of incidents were directed at health-care workers. More than 20% involved physical assaults, 15% were incidents that the ICRC classed as fear-based discrimination, and 15% were verbal assaults or threats.
The incidents included doctors at a hospital in Pakistan being verbally and physically attacked after a patient died of COVID-19 and relatives entered a high-risk area while shouting that coronavirus was a hoax. In Bangladesh, bricks were thrown at the house of a doctor after he tested positive for COVID-19 in a bid to force him and his family from the area...
Language: en |