PMA urges government to facilitate healthcare commission

Security to hospitals and doctors demanded

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), a doctors' body, has urged the government to facilitate Sindh healthcare commission urgently by providing a suitable place for its office and release funds for its functioning in order to stop cases of maltreatment of doctors or hospital staff.
The government should take interest in providing healthcare to public and in solving the problems they face such as quackery, negligence by doctors and patients' rights, said PMA Centre General-Secretary Dr Qaisar Sajjad during a press conference by the office bearers of PMA Karachi and centre at PMA House on Thursday.



According to them, Sindh Healthcare Commission is a forum to address the issues of negligence by doctors or maltreatment of doctors, nursing and hospital staff by the attendants of the patients.
PMA Karachi President Dr Shoukat Malik while referring to a recent video being uploaded by the attendants of patients shot inside the medical intensive care unit (ICU) of Tahir Medical Centre in Dhorajee Colony should not take place in future. In the ICU, attendants of the patients are not allowed due to the presence of critical patients. But the attendants entered there and mistreated the doctors and abused hospital staff, which is a serious concern that needs to be addressed, he said.
Malik condemned the act of attendants and said that the government should take action against the maltreatment that took place inside the ICU by the attendants. He urged the government to provide security to hospitals and healthcare providers.



"The doctors' community resents such cases and resorts to quitting the profession or going abroad to pursue their careers," he remarked.
Dr Ibrahim, ICU specialist of the medical centre, said that the patient was admitted in a serious condition on August 14 and later, on August 15, the incident took place as the child was still on the ventilator.
Dr Khalid Shafi of National Institute of Child Health (NICH), while addressing the media, said that following the incident, the child remained on ventilator at NICH for 48 hours and later passed away due to renal failure.



Dr Sajjad said, "The PMA has never supported negligence and unethical practices of doctors but the recent case of maltreatment would result in suffering of patients as no doctor would attend critical patients in future".
He said education and health has never been a priority of the governments, adding that politicians and leaders should not be allowed to go to foreign countries for treatment, which would result in the improvement of healthcare.



"The government should make sure that all public and private hospitals appoint focal persons to deal with the matters of media and public relations for the smooth functioning of hospitals," he said.
According to him, Pakistan has the highest birth rates in the region and the poorest healthcare system in the country and it the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare facilities to children to deal with such emergencies.