Dr Shershah Syed, a renowned obstetrician-gynaecologist and former secretary of the Pakistan Medical Association, has urged the Centre and Sindh to invest in human resources in the health sector rather than purchasing new machinery and building new infrastructure.
He was speaking on Wednesday at a talk, titled ‘COVID-19: Workers situation and state response’ organised by the National Trade Union Federation at its office.
In the upcoming budget, the governments were most likely to invest in machinery as it left them with chances to earn some kickbacks, he said, adding that although the machinery was needed but what would be done when there were no people to run the machines.
According to Dr Syed, the country has been facing a dire need of paramedics and other staffers to run the hospitals because a patient does not need doctors the most but nurses to tend to them.
“If a doctor does not come to a hospital one day, nothing will change. But if a sweeper takes a day off, the condition of the hospital will surely change,” he said, adding that 90 per cent of the patients need improvements in the hospital system. “We need at least 200,000 more paramedics in the health sector.”
Condemning the trade of barbs between the federal and provincial governments, he said each one of them had made decision that caused the public to suffer. After being blackmailed by clerics and business community, the governments had left the people to die on their own, he maintained.
Dr Syed remarked that illiteracy was one of the main reasons for the disbelief among people regarding the existence of the novel coronavirus. He said that instead of enhancing the capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, the governments had left the people at the mercy of private hospitals that were charging between Rs50,000 and Rs100,000 per day.
He urged the people to wash hands regularly, wear masks and maintain physical distancing. He cited the example of Vietnam and said no death was reported from that country because it strictly followed the preventive measures.
NTUF Secretary General Nasir Mansoor said the governments had failed to protect lives and livelihoods of people. He added that approximately six million workers had lost their jobs during the COVID-19 lockdown and around 17 million were facing employment insecurity.
He alleged that the government, instead of protecting the interests of workers, was harassing them. He lamented that when workers protested against non-payment of salaries and lay-offs, they were shot at, arrested and jailed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.