A total of 146 cases of assaults on doctors have been reported from January 1, 2022, to January 31, 2024, across 62 health centres in Nigeria.
This is according to a survey conducted by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors obtained by our correspondent.
The survey has 62 of the 92 centres (67.40 per cent) that responded to the survey.
According to the survey, 58 centres (63.04 per cent) alluded to assault, 36 centres (39.13 per cent) said there was a threat before the assault, while 58 centres (63.04 per cent) said security apparatus at the location of assault was minimal to non-existent as at the time of the assault, 38 centres (41.30 per cent) said the assailants were arrested, 14 centres (15.22 per cent) said cases went to court, and only four centres (4.35 per cent) got judgment.
“The survey also revealed that a total of 146 assault cases were reported within the period of the survey with all 62 centres indicating major limitations to training and arming of the security personnel charged with the protection of the facilities.
“The root causes of this incident of assault on healthcare providers have been linked to several legal and socioeconomic issues. Although there seem to be laws against any form of assault, it has become a recurrent event of an assault on healthcare providers by a patient or their relative.
Credit: punchng.com
