Pakistani Doctors Beaten, Arrested as They Protest Lack of Protective Equipment

Doctors and other medical staff were beaten by police and arrested while protesting in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on April 6 over the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to them to safely treat COVID-19 patients.

Footage shot at the scene by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty shows several people in medical uniforms shouting and chanting in protest as they face a line of police. The video then cuts to shots of police grabbing, shoving, and striking protesters with batons as they make arrests.

Dr Yasir Khan of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) said more than 150 people were arrested, Pakistani media reported.

The YDA claims several doctors have contracted the coronavirus in the course of their duties due to a lack of PPE. Following the arrests, the association posted photos on Facebook showing men, some wearing blue scrubs, face masks, and gloves used by medical staff, crowded together inside jail cells. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful