Doctors ask for better pay, increased security

Association demands end of harassment at the workplace, says conditions are ‘deplorable’.

KARACHI:

Representatives of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have asked Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed for an immediate solution to all of their problems. In recent strikes, doctors across the country have demanded that all of them be paid in the same way across the provinces.

The PMA argued that even though the provincial government had agreed in spirit to increase their pay, the decision had still to be implemented. They argued that doctors employed in urban areas of the province had many more responsibilities than those in rural areas, and therefore their pay should reflect this anomaly.

A committee formed on the orders of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, consisting of representatives from  medical universities, provincial health officials and doctors, had been tasked with negotiating with doctors. The doctors also discussed being tried under Article 302 of the Constitution. This article deals with intent to murder and carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty. The association argued that doctors would never intentionally murder a patient and that any deaths that occurred during surgery should not result in the arrest of a doctor and further trial under a murder case. The issue of security of doctors was also discussed in the meeting in order to avoid the horrors of last year when doctors were killed on sectarian lines.

Harassment at the workplace is also a constant problem doctors face in public hospitals.

They have continuously complained of physical attacks and verbal abuse by the relatives or friends of patients. Even the presence of police personnel on the premises of hospitals has not prevented this. Farhan Anwar, a doctor posted at the emergency ward of Civil hospital said that the police do not help in such situations. “They are not always on duty, and even if they are, the madness continues,” he said.

Incidents like these have frustrated doctors. Dr Samrina Hashmi, a former general secretary of PMA Karachi, said, “As the doctors have no forum to vent their anger, they are not willing to listen to anyone now.” She accepted that the current minister for health has done a lot to help doctors but more needs to be done, keeping in mind the deplorable state of affairs in which they currently perform their duties. “We are hopeful that something concrete will materialise from these talks and meetings,” indicated Samrina. “However, if nothing happens, we are ready to come out on the streets again and protest.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2011.