For information about the Orthodox Mission in Pakistan, see here.

“Punjab: doctors refuse to treat seriously ill elderly because they are Christians,” by Shafique Khokhar, Asia News, October 4, 2024:

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….