Doctors refuse to treat 'unclean' sanitary worker drenched in sewer sludge

The sanitation loop in Pakistan is taken care of by an ageing, ineffective public infrastructure

Earlier this month Irfan Masih died after doctors refused to treat him at a small rural government hospital in Umerkot, Pakistan.

Irfan Masih was a sanitary worker who had been brought to the hospital after falling unconscious while cleaning his town’s central sewer. Allegedly, the doctors on duty refused to treat him because he was drenched in sewer sludge and hence “unclean”. Irfan's mother explained to news outlets in Pakistan that the doctors were fasting for the Islamic holy month of Ramazan and they believed that even touching, let alone treating, the dying man would