Medical maladies: In Pakistan, just being a doctor can get you killed

Medical professionals at conference say over 100 doctors killed in Karachi in last three years.


Sehrish Wasif April 06, 2014
Medical professionals at conference say over 100 doctors killed in Karachi in last three years. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:


In Pakistan, the medical profession can often become deadly for the practitioner. While regular reports of attacks on immunisation workers make the headlines, in the last three years, Karachi alone has seen over 100 doctors killed.


There is a also a need to revamp the existing health sector, which is suffering due to poor governance, corruption, lack of accountability, scarcity of professionals and lack of funds.

This was the crux of the inaugural session of the two-day, 23rd biannual International Convention of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), held on Saturday at Jinnah Convention Centre.

Around 1,500 doctors from across Pakistan are participating in the convention to share new ideas, challenges and to explore new avenues in the field of healthcare.

Health experts expressed concern over the health sector of the country, saying that if timely action was not taken to repair the “sinking ship”, havoc would ensue.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PIMA President Dr Misbahul Aziz, a former associate professor at Dow University of Health Sciences in Karachi, said Pakistan’s health sector is in shambles and need to be revamped from grassroots level.

He said day-by- day, the disease burden is alarmingly increasing, mainly because people do not have access to quality healthcare services, especially in far-flung areas.

“Considering the rate at which the population is increasing, there is a need to increase healthcare facilities accordingly. Existing public hospitals have old infrastructure and are unable to cater to the healthcare needs of every individual that walks in,” he said.

According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2012-13, there are currently 1,207 hospitals, 5,382 dispensaries, 5,404 basic health units and 696 maternity and child health centres, 160,289 doctors, 12,544 dentists, 82,119 nurses, 101,173 hospital beds in Pakistan to cater to the healthcare needs of 180 million people. He said the situation of healthcare services in rural areas is the worst, as a majority of rural health centres (RHCs) lack doctors, medical staff, medicines, equipments, toilets, provision of clean drinking water, electricity etc.

“Due to poor infrastructure and lack of incentives, doctors are reluctant to work at rural health centres,” he said.

Dr Aziz was also concerned by the lack of training and capacity-building opportunities for medical students and professionals around the country.

“How can one expect a medical student to become a professional doctor when throughout his medical education, he keeps learning from books rather than practical work,” he said.

Sohail Akhtar, a senior pulmonologist and professor of medicine at Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, told The Express Tribune that there are many doctors in Karachi who are scared to work because almost every day, two or three members of the medical fraternity receive extortion threats.

“If they fail to pay, they are killed,” he said.

Meanwhile, talking about the current health sector, he said there is need to focus on prevention, improving routine immunisation and strengthening primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare services.

He was also worried by the poor implementation of anti-tobacco laws, which he blamed for a rise in lung and oral cancer.

“Every month, two-to-three fresh cases of lung cancer come to me alone, so one can imagine how many go to other pulmonologists every day,” he said.

Prof Dr Mohammad Iqbal Khan, dean of Health and Medical Sciences at Azad Jammu and Kashmir University, Muzaffarabad, talked about the objectionable performance of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) over the past few years.

“They are registering doctors who have never tended to a single patient and medical colleges that are being run in two-room houses in return for millions of rupees. Such ill-practices and corruption have defamed the medical profession nationally and internationally,” he said.

He was of the view that the doctors being produced by fake medical colleges will lead to a disaster for the upcoming generation.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said the government plans to double the budgets for health and education over the next five years to promote socioeconomic development and healthy lifestyles in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2014.

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