Young doctors to continue strike on Monday as talks with govt fail again

Young doctors announced late on Saturday night that their strike and boycott of the out-patient departments (OPDs) would continue on Monday too as their talks with Sindh Information Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab had failed once again after the provincial government refused to give any written assurance to them.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also refused again to meet the protesting doctors.

A delegation of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Sindh led by Dr Umer Sultan and Dr Yaseen Umrani along with officer bearers of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Sindh met the information adviser at his residence and asked him to either convince the government to give them a written assurance that their demands would be met, or arrange their meeting with the CM so that they could discuss their issues directly with him.

“Murtaza Wahab told us that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah would not meet us while he would also give no written assurance regarding acceptance of our demands. He also asked us to believe in his words that doctors’ demands would be met by the next Friday or Saturday, which was not acceptable to us,” Dr Umrani, the YDA Sindh president, told The News.

The protesting doctors said they could not end their strike for the second time because of the hollow promise made by Wahab as they had ended their earlier strike on his assurance but the government failed to honour its commitment after that.

The Sindh government officials blamed the young doctors for the deadlock, saying the CM had approved a summary regarding an increase in the salaries and allowances of the doctors and verbally assured them that this would be implemented from February 1, 2019. However, a final approval in this regard would be given by the provincial cabinet.

“Young doctors were shown a summary signed by the CM but they insisted on having some written assurance from the CM or hearing it from the CM himself, which was not acceptable to him,” a government official said, expressing hope that the doctors would be convinced to end their boycott as the government had accepted their demands in principle.

The strike entered its fourth day on Saturday as OPDs at the major hospitals including the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Lyari General Hospital, Civil Hospital Karachi, Institute of Skin Diseases and several other public health facilities remained closed. The young doctors also held protest demonstrations in favour of their demands and asked the provincial government to increase their salaries and allowances.

The protesting doctors said they had been fooled by the authorities on several occasions in the past but they would not fall into their trap this time and would not end their boycott unless a notification regarding an increase in their salaries was issued by the health department.

Two children die

Disorder ensued at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) on Saturday after two children being treated at the health facility died.

After the deaths, a large number of attendants of young patients attacked the doctors on strike at the NICH and took their protest camp apart. The patients’ attendants also briefly blocked Rafiqui Shaheed Road in protest.

However, the NICH administration and doctors claimed that both the children were being treated at the hospital and they died during the treatment due to complications of their diseases.

Situation at the NICH turned serious in the morning when the two kids, including an infant, died. Their attendants as well as other attendants attacked the young doctors’ camp at the health facility with chairs, batons and sticks, forcing the female doctors to take refuge inside the building. Some male doctors sustained injuries during the attack. As police and private security guards were called to deal with the protesting attendants, they walked out of the hospital and blocked Rafiqui Shaheed Road where four major hospitals of the city are located, including the NICH, JPMC, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and Kidney Centre.

The angry protesters also harmed some motorists and caused traffic jam on the road causing troubles for other patients, doctors, paramedical staff and other commuters. Police rushed to the scene due to the snarl-up and assured the protesters that action would be taken against those whose negligence resulted in the children’s deaths, after which they dispersed.

Later, speaking to media persons, NICH Director Prof Jamal Raza said the deaths of the two children, had nothing to do with the doctors’ strike as they were being treated at the wards when they died. He added that the deaths resulted due to the complications of jaundice and burns wounds from which the children were suffering from.

Young doctors had only boycotted the OPD at the NICH and they were performing their duties at the wards and emergency of the hospital, Prof Raza maintained.

Protest demonstrations were also held at various government hospitals in Karachi and rest of Sindh by patients and their attendants who have been suffering due to the strike. The patients demanded that the authorities take measures to end the strike of the young doctors.