Doctors demand due respect

Islamabad : Professional bodies view the recent trial of CEO of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) Dr Saeed Akhtar with great anguish as a dedicated professional is being ridiculed in media for his earning in the transplantation project he was running, to the very need of the unit.

Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) expressed this through a joint statement of President PIMA Professor Dr Muhammad Afzal Mian, General Secretary PIMA Professor Dr Khubaib Shahid, Vice Chancellor Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Islamabad Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Khan and Professor Dr Hafiz Ijaz Ahmad from Lahore.

The statement reads that Dr Saeed Akhtar is a medical professional of the highest ranks and capabilities who was a gold medalist in his medical college (SMC) and achieved training in kidney diseases including transplantation in the prestigious institutions of the US. Had he opted to stay there, he would have had multiple doors to success and fortune but he opted to return to Pakistan to serve the masses here and it is a testimony of his vision.

The PKLI was his dream, as our homeland has more end stage kidney and liver disease cases to handle than the services available, the PR stated. It adds he made efforts for several years to get highly skilled doctors needed to run such a high tech field working in Pakistan and convinced many of his colleagues to return to the country and serve there that in itself is not an easy task.

The joint statement reads that he is a man without any political intent or affiliation; his task is his vision, not any particular party or government; in fact he proposed establishing the institute to the two previous heads of the state with different backgrounds, but only succeeded in convincing the current Punjab government which offered him the required infrastructure.

The question of level of salary drawn is highly debatable. What is an optimal earning can never be accurately judged; it is largely compared. Doctors of such calibre usually earn many times his salary at the PKLI, in Pakistan or abroad. Moreover, transplantation is an expensive undertaking and the amount put in this project should not surprise anyone who knows the field, says the press release.

The authorities including the respected judiciary in Pakistan are of course free to question anyone and any institution. No one is, and should be, above the law. But there should be a difference in treating professionals and criminals, and between interrogation and humiliation, the PR states.

The PR says the doctor’s community in the Pakistan and abroad views the on-going trial of the PKLI and its free influx in the mainstream media with baseless commentaries, with extreme anguish. What message is given to the community? That one should think many times before he plans to return to serve the motherland, where he will be humiliated for public service. That in our country, his years of sincere efforts can go down the drain within days. This is totally unacceptable, reads the joint statement.

We demand to the authorities in Pakistan to give respect to doctors especially those whose careers are openly spotless and refrain from publicizing any on-going trials to avoid the free-for-all media, tarnishing images built in decades with flashing baseless news, states the PR,

PIMA demanded to make accountability across the board rather than limiting it to certain quarters raising suspicion over the intent, and punish those with proven embezzlement of funds. It demanded the authorities to pay attention to the plight of the common man in Pakistan who needs major improvement in the health structure, from potable water to tertiary care and free health care delivery which is his right.