Attack on young doctors: PMA warns of countrywide protest movement

Body’s central secretary-general condemns torture of young doctors.

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has announced a nationwide movement if the government fails to control the attacks on young doctors.

At a press conference on Friday, PMA Central secretary-general Dr Mirza Ali Azhar condemned the torturing of young doctors by the Balochistan government. “They [doctors] are not asking anything big. What they are asking is that they should be given the same opportunities and salaries as doctors in other provinces, he said.

According to him, the demands are not extraordinary and cannot cause any trouble for the Balochistan government. “It is the stubborn attitude of the chief minister of Balochistan that makes him refuse to listen to the problems of the doctors,” he added.

The Balochistan government suspended 127 doctors and, three days ago, they brutally assaulted a peaceful rally of doctors. Azhar said that dozens of doctors were injured and more than 70 were taken into custody “which is very shameful”. He felt that the government is eventually harming the residents only as doctors can get jobs in other countries but the poor patients will suffer.

Talking about PMA’s relations with the Young Doctors Association (YDA), Azhar said that, “They are not our members. We have our own constitution and a proper procedure through which memberships are given”.

He pointed out that there are 108 private medical colleges for new doctors across the country but the government has no facilities to give them house jobs and trainings. This has led to frustrations among these professionals, who then take to the streets. The PMA demands the federal government look into the incident and constitute a judicial commission for inquiry, said Azhar. “If immediate action was not taken then it will be difficult to stop the young doctors from coming out onto the streets again.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2011.