FILE
The Jinnah hospital protest entered its sixth day on Friday. While the staff did not hold a procession, they visited the protest camp that has been set up at the hospital for the past five days.
They are protesting against the proposed transfer of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) from federal to provincial management.
So far, the medical staff has been trying to keep the protest peaceful without causing trouble for hospital routines. However, they said that they would rally on Saturday to draw public attention and to put pressure on the authorities.
The doctors expressed their regret that they had not been approached by a government representative yet. “This indifference may compel us to call for a strike or to adopt a go-slow policy,” said Dr Mohammad Usman of the joint action committee.
The protesters said that they wanted to use the media to spread their message. They said that under the devolution component of the 18th amendment, JPMC and NICH must not be put under provincial control.
“We have the unique status of a research-cum-medical care centre and must not be converted into a regular hospital and exposed to mal-administration and mismanagement,” said a senior doctor. The doctors said that though they were trying to put patient care first, the officials’ indifference may push them to stop working until their demands are accepted.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ