The Aga Khan University (AKU) is hosting the 5th Clinical Ethics Symposium on Thursday. An announcement here on Wednesday said that the theme of the moot is 'Stop Violence - Create Safe Hospital; Violence in Health Care Settings Responses and Way Forward'.
It said that this symposium seeks to create an alternative framework to address conflict and to create safe hospitals. It will address the social, legal and ethical perspectives of hospital violence, and bring health care professionals together to develop strategies to cope with patient violence and aggression in the workplace. 'Violence in hospitals and health care facilities is a growing problem in Pakistan. Reports in the local and electronic media suggest a rising trend in incidents of violence', the announcement added.
In the absence of research studies on this topic, an informal visit to the seven leading hospitals in Karachi by a team of health care professionals has confirmed the prevalence of this phenomenon, it was further stated. The symposium is open to health care professionals, hospital administrators, NGOs in health care, lawyers, law enforcement agencies and print and electronic media.