PMA demands priority for health from political parties

Declaring health a fundamental right of citizens, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has urged all political parties to give priority to health and education in their manifestoes and announce more allocation to these sectors.

Speaking at a conference on Monday, PMA Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad said health is the most neglected sector in Pakistan and no political party accords it due importance in their manifestoes.

“Unfortunately, none of the governments spent even one percent of GDP on health, which is deplorable,” he said. “In these circumstances, the Pakistan Medical Association demands all the political parties to focus more on prevention of diseases and vow to increase spending on health if they come to power.”

Flanked by PMA Treasurer Dr Qazi Muhammad Wasiq, PMK Karachi President Dr Khalil Mukaddam and other office-bearers, Sajjad lamented that the focus of successive governments has remained primarily on treatment, while prevention has been largely ignored.

Expressing concern over doctors and paramedic staff being assigned election duties in the city, the PMA leader warned that large and small hospitals could remain closed on July 25 because of the absence of medical officials deputed to polling stations.

“In case of emergency, this would be a criminal act on part of the election commission and provincial authorities because there would be no doctors and paramedics to save the lives of patients at many of the tertiary-care hospitals,” Sajjad warned.

He further said that the PMA was highly concerned about the deterioration of health and education systems in the country and deplored that not a single university of Pakistan stands in the ranking of the top 500 universities of the world. “At the same time, there is no such hospital in the country where our rulers can get themselves treated so they go abroad for their treatment,” he said.

Claiming that health and education had never been the priority of Pakistani ruling elite, the PMA office-bearer said that due to this ruthless attitude, there was mushroom growth of private schools and hospitals and people are left on the mercy of owners of these institutes.

PMA officials demanded political parties to invest more in prevention of diseases rather than focusing on the curative side, ensure provision of clean water to every citizen to prevent waterborne diseases, and impose a complete ban on Gutka, Chalia, Sheesha as well as ensure the implementation of laws against manufacturing and sale of Gutka, Chalia and tobacco to prevent oral cancer in Pakistan.

The PMA officials also called for the implementation of a 2002 ordinance which prevents all type of smoking at public places, the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases, a complete elimination of quackery and a 6 per cent increase in the healthcare GDP spending ratio with proper allocation and utilisation of fund.

The PMA officials also called for strengthening of Basic Health Units, Rural Health Centres and Taluka Hospitals by recruitment of doctors and specialists, nurses, midwives, paramedics on an emergency basis, and said the government should create healthy and hygienic atmosphere at public sector hospitals and provide all basic health facilities free of cost to all patients visiting these hospitals.

According to the officials, the strengthening of Expanded Programme on Immunization and its proper implementation, particularly for polio eradication, and complete transparency in all matters of health from recruitment to procurement should also be the responsibility of the government, while it should be mandatory to all high officials, bureaucrats, ministers, members of the parliament to get themselves treated preferably in public sector hospitals.

Speaking about the environment, they said environment and noise pollution should be controlled, while climate changes and global warming should be taken seriously.

Calling for better working conditions for doctors, the PMA office-bearers demanded career structures for doctors in general and teaching cadre in public and private sector to prevent brain drain and also called for the establishment of modern virology labs at all provincial capitals.

“An independent, autonomous, powerful and representative PMDC for the regularisation of medical education and training in Pakistan is the need of the hour,” they said, adding that strengthening of present tertiary-care centres, teaching hospitals and medical colleges by capacity building instead new medical colleges was also needed.

According to the PMA officials, appointments and promotions on strict merit are required for proper medical education in the country along with investment in production of competent nurses, midwives, paramedics and development of their career structure, while authorities should also ensure regular service structure with time scale promotions for doctors.

Commenting on drug prices, they said authorities should keep the drug prices within the reach of poor patients while regular monitoring of the substandard drugs and substandard food items should be carried out to keep people from being harmed.

“Road traffic accidents should be controlled to save the lives and health of people and use of roads for rallies, processions, sit-ins and for any other purpose should be permanently banned to avoid sufferings face by the public in this situation,” PMA officials added.

They further observed that anti-biotic resistance should be controlled in Pakistan, particularly in light of the recent warning from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention about the drug resistant XDR typhoid fever.