Health workers in KP end strike

PESHAWAR: The protesting health workers, including doctors, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday called off the 47-daylong strike after reaching an understanding with the government.

As per the understanding, a ministerial committee would be constituted to resolve the issues related to the District Health Authority (DHA) and Regional Health Authority (RHA). Chief Minister Mahmood Khan told The News that he held a meeting with representatives of the health workers, who decided to call off the strike after he directed that a ministerial committee be constituted to resolve the issues.

This was the major demand of the protesting health professionals. He said besides DHA and DHA, the committee would resolve other issues of the health workers. "Most of the issues have already been resolved and efforts would be made to solve the remaining ones. The committee is supposed to resolve the issues within two months or so," added the chief minister.

The health workers, who had been on strike since September 27, had suspended healthcare services in all the state-run tertiary care hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, tehsil hospitals, Rural Health Centres and Basic Health Units.

The Grand Health Alliance (GHA), an umbrella organisation of all health workers, had given the strike call on September 27 when the police baton-charged the protesting health employees at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

Besides Syed Roeedar Shah, president GHA, Dr Alamgir Yousafzai, chairman GHA and patron-in-chief Young Doctors Association (YDA), Dr Amir Taj, president Provincial Doctors Association (PDA), Dr Sirajul Islam and other GHA office-bearers were present in the meeting with the chief minister. Thousands of surgeries were postponed in hospitals due to strike of the doctors.

Besides denying services to patients in the Outpatient Departments (OPDs), the doctors had stopped working in the operation theatres and pathology and radiology departments. It was the longest strike of the health workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during which doctors, paramedics, nursing staff and non-technical Class-IV employees showed unity and ran a joint campaign against the government under the banner of GHA. Syed Roeedar Shah, GHA President told The News that they agreed to call off the strike after the chief minister agreed to constitute a ministerial committee.