Health workers in north protest over stabbing

Health professionals in the north held a work stoppage on Monday to protest the widely condemned knife attack against a doctor by a patient in northern Famagusta.

Dozens of doctors and nurses gathered outside the ‘health ministry’ in northern Nicosia around 9am and marched to the ‘parliament’ where a plenum was held.

The protesters were holding placards reading “if there is violence, there will be no service”, “Let the MP doctors go out”, and “The knife hit us all”. The protest was organised by the Cyprus Union of T/C nurses and midwives, the union of T/C doctors, the T/C medical association and the association of T/C pharmacists.

Recently, there has been an increase in the incidents of violence against health professionals, they said. Apart from the weekend’s knife attack, a paramedic was also assaulted in the previous days.

The latest incident took place on Saturday at a private clinic when a 32-year-old patient pulled out a knife and stabbed a well-known urologist five times because he wanted different treatment.

The attack was condemned by many political and social bodies.

On Monday, the ‘health ministry’ announced that it would set up an ‘anti-violence committee’ with the aim of taking measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the health sector.

The 32-year-old man appeared to be suffering from psychological problems, which began after his return from his studies in the US, Turkish Cypriot media reported. Avrupa cited a recent post by the 32-year-old who wrote that he returned to his country and “the TRNC killed me”.

Three days earlier he had stabbed a lawyer in Nicosia, while the doctor in Famagusta was stabbed five times.

The health professional’s condition is not life threatening.

Following the violent incident on Saturday, six organisations in the health sector in the north issued a joint statement in the afternoon calling for the necessary legislation to be in place, noting that “if there is violence, health services will not be provided”.

They said Saturday was a “black day” because of the incident, noting that violence has reached horrific proportions in the “north of Cyprus”. They condemned violence wherever it comes from and call on the “rulers” to act to overcome “social violence”.

Meanwhile, health professionals in the government-controlled areas have also repeatedly protested violent incidents, especially in the accidents and emergency departments.