Twenty patients lost their lives in Punjab during the last two days due to lack of medical attention as doctors continued their strike on Saturday, Express 24/7 reported.
A spokesperson of the Young Doctors Association announced that more than a hundred doctors of the Punjab Institute of cardiology had resigned.
A Punjab government spokesperson said that striking doctors should submit their resignations directly to the government and that their resignations would be accepted today (Saturday).
The Punjab government has recruited more than 130 doctors in government hospitals across the province, with 70 for Lahore only. It has also asked the protesting doctors to vacate hostels of various institutions.
Doctors of Jinnah Hospital in Karachi have announced a strike on April 5 and doctors in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa a strike on April 4, demanding that manhandling and arrests of doctors in Punjab be stopped.
Thousands of doctors across Punjab working at public hospitals have been on strike since the provincial government failed to meet their demands for better compensation. The strike is spearheaded by the Young Doctors Association (YDA) of Punjab, which claims to have 8,000 members participating in the strike. The doctors are demanding a minimum monthly salary of Rs90,000 and regular employment contracts.
Police have arrested the president of YDA, and a heavy contingent of police has been deployed outside the hospitals to avoid untoward situations.
Chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said the government had considered the doctors’ demands and offered a substantial salary raise, so there was no longer any justification for the strike.
Doctors have rejected the ultimatum given by the Punjab government to discontinue the strike or face departmental action and be replaced by retired and unemployed doctors. Punjab health secretary Fawad Hasan has ordered principals of medical colleges and teaching hospitals to sack doctors who do not resume their duties within 24 hours and make new appointments on all vacant seats.
Young doctors in Lahore have closed indoor, outdoor and emergency departments, refusing to work. Two senior doctors from Mayo hospital Lahore have joined protesting juniors, pressing for fulfillment of their colleagues’ demands.
Doctors and paramedics are also striking in Rahim Yar Khan.
Parliamentary leader Raja Riaz said the opposition will register a case against Punjab government over the deceased patients who had been denied medical care.
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