Doctors oppose district health authority plan

PESHAWAR: The Provincial Doctors Association has rejected the Medical Teaching Institute Act, transfer on the basis of domiciles and district health authority plan and urged the government to stop economic murder of the doctors.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, the provincial general secretary, Dr Alamgir, Dr Fazal Manan and Dr Rizwan threatened to launch a protest movement against the government if the rulers failed to accept their demands.

Flanked by Dr Fazal Manan, Dr Rizwan, Dr Abdul Waheed and others, he said that the MTI system had failed and its performance was zero for the last several years.

The said act, he said, could not benefit the poor people while the district health authority system was worse than that of MTI. He said that none of the stakeholders, including the PDA, was taken into confidence before the enforcement of the controversial act.

Terming it an economic murder of the doctor community, he said the government in the name of MTI was resorting to nepotism and indulged in the political interference at the district level.

He said the provincial government was making hollow slogans about the health sector in the province because it could not bring about any change in the Health Department.Dr Alamgir said that the health sector was being given in the hands of inefficient people and would ruin the entire system.

He said the government could not provide any relief to the poor patients and any medicines.

Instead of fulfilling the shortage of doctors in the government hospitals, he said the rulers were pressuring the senior doctors in the name of clinical doctors.

Dr Alamgir recalled that the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government had promised to restore service structure of the 50 percent doctors and solve their problems

while the remaining 50 percent would be accommodated by the sitting government.

He said it was also promised to end the political interference in the administrative affairs of the government hospitals.

They warned to stage a sit-in outside the provincial assembly and the Chief Minister’s House if their demands were not met.