Punjab: doctors refuse to treat seriously ill elderly because they are Christians

The incident took place at the Civil Hospital in Sahiwal, Punjab. According to a complaint by Yousaf Masih Gill, the parent was refused urgent surgery by the doctors on confessional grounds. A health worker said: ‘If I had known earlier that you are a Christian, I would not have touched your father’. The family's protest and the health management's apology.

Sahiwal (AsiaNews) - A new incident, with dramatic implications, of intolerance on a confessional basis at the Civil Hospital of Sahiwal, in Punjab, once again highlights the discrimination suffered by minorities in Pakistan.

Doctors at the hospital, who should be entrusted with the task of saving lives, have been guilty of gross negligence at the clinical level, as well as hatred towards other fellow citizens simply because of the faith they practise. The person denouncing the incident is Yousaf Masih Gill, whose seriously ill father, fighting for his life, was subjected to ‘unprofessional and discriminatory’ treatment by the medical staff.

According to Yousaf Masih's account of events on 1 October, a Muslim doctor at the hospital allegedly made a chilling statement to the family seeking help: ‘If I had known earlier that you are a Christian, I would not have touched your father’. This comment, full of religious prejudice, reflects a terrible level of discrimination that violates not only professional ethics but also fundamental human rights.

The son then added that when he and his family entered the doctor's room, they were shocked to find all their colleagues engaged in a game of Parchisi (Ludo) during working hours. Desperate for help, Yousaf Masih finally asked them to look after his seriously ill father, but was answered with disdain: ‘We are playing. We will check on him later'. This blatant disregard for a patient's life reveals extreme negligence and a gross abuse of professional responsibility.

Also outside the hospital was Babu Nadeem, a Catholic catechist and Yousaf Masih's brother, who staged a protest together with dozens of other people when he heard that his father had been denied surgery. ‘My father is struggling with death and has to endure immense pain and agony, but the doctors' behaviour is rude to the patients. We come to hospitals,' he continues, ’for our medical care and we believe we can be treated without discrimination, because people of any religion or ethnicity come to hospitals for medicine, examinations or tests.

‘We have witnessed very disappointing behaviour,’ he charges, ‘of our doctors just because we are Christians. This is absolutely not acceptable, I ask all of you to join us and raise your voices against this unsatisfactory behaviour of doctors, so that they do not dare to treat others as badly as we are doing. My father's operation,' he concludes, ’is on hold, but we will continue to protest until our voices are heard and we are treated fairly.

After the protest, the hospital medical officer visited the distressed family yesterday and apologised for the blatantly unprofessional behaviour of the doctors, assuring them of better treatment and guaranteeing surgery for the father. The medical examiner asked them to prepare red blood cells and blood supplies for the father's surgery, which is expected to take place within the next few days.

Human rights activist Ashiknaz Khokhar told AsiaNews that Christians continue to suffer persecution and widespread discrimination in almost all areas of life. ‘In schools and universities, Christian students often encounter prejudice and bullying and are marginalised for their faith. And even in hospitals, the situation is no better and, as revealed in some tragic incidents in the recent past, Christians are subject to neglect and biased treatment by medical staff'.

Finally, even in government and semi-government institutions, Christians ‘are often denied equal opportunities, suffering systematic discrimination in recruitment, promotion and fundamental rights. This general prejudice,' Ashiknaz concludes, ’creates an environment of inequality that makes it difficult for Christians to prosper and live with dignity in Pakistan.