Swabi health units conversion into MTIs protested

SWABI: The public sector hospitals employees held a protest meeting here on Thursday against converting the health units here in the district into Medical Teaching Institutes (MTIs).

The paramedical Association district President Abdul Hakeem led the protest which was also attended by doctors and nurses.

Except for emergencies, all services, including vaccination, in all public sector hospitals across the district remained suspended. The employees gathered at the premises of DHQ Hospital.

The workers belonging to DHQ Hospital, Bacha Khan Hospital Complex Shahmansoor, Tehsil Chota Lahor and Topi also participated in the protest.

The provincial government first converted Bacha Khan Hospital into MTI, later DHQ, Tehsil Topi and Tehsil Chota Lahor headquarters were also made part of the new system under the MTI Act. This created disturbance among the workers. All these hospitals are now run by the Board of Governors (BoGs).

Sharafatullah Yousafzai, central president of All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association, said the MTI system will deprive the ailing people belonging to poor families of the right to free treatment.

Syed Roidar Shah, provincial president of Paramedical Association, said the provincial government first victimized public sector employees in Peshawar hospitals and now the districts, creating a highly perturbed scenario.

Fazal Hakim, vice-president of the Mardan division of the association, vowed to render any sacrifice for the rights of the workers.

They vowed to continue the struggle till the withdrawal of the Medical Teaching Institutes Act and prayed to get rid of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.