PMA steps in to sort out young doctors’ issues

Postgraduate trainees and house officers continue their boycott of OPDs and surgeries for fourth consecutive day demanding increase in their stipends

The Pakistan Medical Association stepped in to sort out the issues of the Civil Hospital Karachi and other hospitals’ young doctors - postgraduate trainees and house officers – who continued their boycott of OPDs and surgeries for the fourth third consecutive day on Saturday demanding an increase in their stipends.

The PMA urged the doctors to call off their strike for the sake of poor patients. However, it condemned the provincial government for paying the doctors less stipends than those working at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and the National Institute of Child Health.

 “The executive committee meeting of PMA Karachi today took notice of the strike called by the Young Doctors Association across the country, particularly in Sindh. As a matter of policy, the PMA does not approve of strikes at any cost and putting the healthcare system at halt. Strikes add miseries to the already suffering poor people. But at the same time, the PMA is very concerned about the government’s apathy towards the justified and genuine demands of the doctors,” said PMA Karachi general secretary Ahmed Bhimani said on Saturday.

He said the PMA condemned the attitude of the government and demanded that the authorities should listen to and negotiate with the protesting doctors to address their issues. At the same, the PMA believes that suspending healthcare services and creating hardships for the poor and needy patients is not acceptable,” he added.

“There are so many other ways to protest which may not cause the damage and solve the purpose. The PMA also requests the civil society and media to highlight and support the genuine demands of doctors.”

The young doctors are demanding that their salaries should be disbursed as per the revised stipend announced in a government notification. They said their colleagues at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and the National Institute of Child Health were being paid Rs65,000 while those serving at CHK and other hospitals in the province were being paid 42,500 for the same job even though they possessed the same qualification, which was an injustice to them.

CHK Young Doctors’ Association president Dr Waris Jakherani told The News that unless the government assured them that they would be given their rights, they would continue protesting.

Many surgeries and procedures were postponed at the CHK on Saturday and other public hospitals in the province because of the postgraduate trainees’ boycott.

Patients were referred to other hospitals including the JPMC and the NICH by the CHK administration.

The DUHS and CHK administrations said they were helpless and had to turn away visitors because of the young doctors’ strike.

The protesting doctors said they would wait till Monday and if their demands were not met by then, they were going to boycott all departments and healthcare services at the province’s hospitals.

Even the doctors at the JPMC and the NICH who are being paid revised stipends vowed to join their protesting colleagues at the CHK and other cities of Sindh.

“We won’t hesitate in boycotting health services and joining the CHK doctors’ protest if their demands are not met by Tuesday. When we were protesting, they supported us and now it’s our turn to reciprocate, YDA Sindh president Dr Samiullah Gill, a postgraduate trainee at the JPMC, told The News.