ISLAMABAD: Leading medical associations on Monday demanded immediate and concrete action to protect healthcare workers following the killing of a female doctor at District Hospital Kohat. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan (SOGP) termed the attack a grave failure of workplace safety and called for the swift arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
According to hospital officials and local sources, Dr Mehwish was allegedly attacked by attendants of a patient following a dispute during duty hours at District Hospital Kohat. The incident triggered protests by doctors and paramedics, who described the killing as the latest in a series of attacks on healthcare providers in public hospitals, where overcrowding, lack of security staff, and poor crowd control frequently expose doctors to verbal abuse and physical violence.
In a strongly worded statement, SOGP expressed profound grief and condemnation over the killing of Dr Mehwish, who lost her life while on duty at the district hospital. The society stated that the incident occurred after the doctor made a professionally appropriate request in accordance with standard patient examination protocols. It added that the violent reaction by attendants reflected deep-rooted failures in ensuring the safety and dignity of women healthcare professionals in public-sector hospitals. It warned that the Kohat killing was not an isolated incident, pointing to repeated cases of violence against female doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It said such attacks exposed serious gaps in hospital security, enforcement of existing safety measures, and institutional accountability.
SOGP called on the provincial government to ensure a transparent and time-bound investigation, the immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators, and the implementation of enforceable security arrangements at District Hospital Kohat and other public healthcare facilities across the province. SOGP President Prof Rubina Sohail and Secretary General Prof Shabeen Naz Masood stated that violence against doctors not only endangers individual healthcare workers but also undermines healthcare delivery and public trust in essential medical services. They stressed that protecting healthcare professionals — particularly women working in high-risk public-sector settings — is a state responsibility and requires urgent policy and administrative action.
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), in a separate statement, strongly condemned the murder and demanded that criminal cases be registered against those involved. It warned that attacks on doctors and nurses had become alarmingly frequent across the country. The PMA stated that repeated assurances by the authorities regarding improved hospital security had not translated into meaningful change on the ground, leaving frontline healthcare workers vulnerable during duty hours. The association called for round-the-clock security at emergency departments and sensitive wards, strict access control, and zero tolerance for violence inside hospitals.
The Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) also expressed deep sorrow and outrage over the killing, describing it as a brutal reminder of the unsafe working conditions faced by doctors — particularly women — in public hospitals. PIMA urged the federal and provincial governments to treat violence against healthcare providers as a serious criminal offence and to ensure fast-track prosecution in such cases to serve as a deterrent. The association further called for legal cover enabling hospital administrations to bar violent attendants and for the deployment of trained security personnel in emergency units.
Doctors’ bodies stated that the Kohat incident should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers, warning that persistent violence and inadequate protection are contributing to low morale among healthcare workers and could further strain an already overstretched public health system. They urged the government to introduce comprehensive workplace violence prevention policies, strengthen hospital security infrastructure, and ensure that perpetrators of attacks on doctors are brought to justice without delay.
