A woman tends to a child suffering from Thallassemia at a hospital in Islamabad. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The hospital spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja said as per the Supreme Court orders the centre has started its functions.
Children suffering from thalassemia will get the bone marrow transplant operation as per schedule list. Two new patients suffering from thalassemia have also been for the transplant procedure, he added.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday hearing a suo moto notice of reported closing down of Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (BMTC) at Pims had asked the administration to make it functional by 4pm.
The apex court also ordered prompt payment of dues of the present staff and said that till the hiring of the new staff, the present staff would keep working. The court further ordered the restoration of the sacked employees immediately.
The Chief Justice had taken suo moto notice of reported closing down of transplant centre for children suffering from thalassemia on application by parents of the children getting treatment. They had stated that bone marrow transplant is the only cure available to children with thalassemia major and around 500 children are on the waiting list for transplants.
It further stated that about 12 staffers including doctors and nurses at the centre were not paid their salaries since July 2017 and they have now been told that their contracts will not be extended owing to administrative issues. The transplant at a private hospital costs around Rs3 million, while it costs Rs1 million at Pims of which Rs0.6 million is donated by Pakistan Baitul Mal.
The application also asserted that there is apprehension of closure of the Cardiac Centre, while the liver transplant unit at Pims has already been closed and the same is apparently for the benefit of private hospitals that are charging for more than the average citizen can afford.
On Monday hearing the issue the Chief Justice said the staff be appointed through Federal Public Service Commission.
The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Additional Secretary said the centre was started under a project funded by Italy for three years and after the completion of the project the issue of employees’ regularisation started. There is trend at the hospital wherein centres are opened via projects that cause issue for employees after completions, he said.
Pims Executive Director Dr Amjad Mahmood told the court that there was separation issue of Pims from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University and two doctors and one nurse was not regularised who had specialised skills that caused this issue. About 13 letters were written to CADD but no action was taken .
Justice Nisar remarked that Supreme Court is criticised for interferes in executive matters, adding that if the government does their work accordingly, the judiciary would not have to intervene. Now everything has to be done by the court, he questioned: “I even don’t take day off on Saturday and Sunday still I have been asked that I’m sacrificing my work.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2018.
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