Two months on: Junior doctors’ strike continues unabated

Thousands of patients denied care.

QUETTA:

The two-month-long junior doctors’ strike continued unabated in the provincial capital, wreaking havoc with the medical system in the city and denying care to thousands of people.

All the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) at state-run hospitals are closed and scheduled operations have being cancelled for the past two months.

People vented their anger at the doctors and the government for not paying any heed to the sufferings of ordinary citizens.

“It seems the government is waiting for a lot of people die before it will take any action,” said Mohammad Zahid, a resident of Saryab Road. “The doctors have been on strike for the past two months. No action on the part of government has so far been taken to resolve the issue.”

Besides emergency departments, doctors are not performing their duties in other wards and the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) at Sandamen Hospital. The Bolan Medical Complex also remained closed on Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2011.