Doctors continue their protest as another round of talks fails

Families protest as two children under treatment at NICH die

KARACHI: Two children, who were under treatment at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), lost their lives on Saturday while the stand-off between the Sindh government and protesting doctors continued for the fourth consecutive day.

The families of three-year-old Muhammad Azaan and two-month-old Rizwan, who were brought to NICH from Pehlwan Goth, Karachi and Jhal Magsi, Balochistan respectively, claimed that it was the doctors' strike that caused their children's death.

Protesting against the negligence, the families uprooted the protesting doctors’ camp inside the NICH premises. They broke hospital chairs and benches and blocked roads by placing barriers as their patience waned. However, hospital security staff, with the help of police, managed to control the situation.



Patients suffer

Meanwhile, another round of talks between the representatives of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA)  and the Young Doctors Association (YDA), and Adviser to chief minister on Information, Law and Anti-Corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab, on Saturday evening failed to produce any results.

The deadlock between the Sindh government and doctors has left patients of the whole province without heath care services. Around 25,000 patients visiting government hospitals daily are being denied medical treatment while hundreds of operations have been postponed.

NICH denies allegation

NICH Director Dr Jamal Raza, however, dismissed the allegation that the doctors' boycott was the cause of the children's death. While addressing the media, he said that the deaths were not related to the doctors' strike as the wards and emergency services of the hospital were still functional with on duty doctors present.

According to Dr Raza, one child was suffering from jaundice and the other was a special child. He claimed that their deaths occurred due to their critical conditions. Dr Raza added that thousands of children visit NICH for medical treatment on a daily basis and some of them succumb to their illnesses especially when their conditions are severe.

The protesting doctors concurred with Dr Raza's statements and attributed the deaths to the children's critical condition. They maintained that the Sindh chief minister and the health department were responsible for the patients' plight during this boycott. The doctors insisted that they were forced to take extreme measures as their demands were not met and said they will further expand the scope of their protest if the Sindh government continues to ignore their demands.

The doctors demand increase in salaries and pensions at par with their counterparts in Punjab, promotions of more than 2,000 doctors from BS-18 to BS-20 posts. Clarifying the current scope of their boycott, the doctors claimed that they were continuing the provision of services in wards and emergency and were providing medical facilities to the children.

Negotiations fail again

Meanwhile, Wahab, who is also the spokesperson for the Sindh government, summoned representatives of PMA and YDA for negotiation. Dr Umar Sultan, Dr Yasmeen Imrani, Dr Mehboob Ali of YDA and Dr Pir Manzoor from PMA attended the meeting with Wahab.

The adviser to chief minister said that the public was suffering due to doctors protest and an immediate resolution was desired. He maintained that the Sindh government has assured the fulfilment of doctors' demands and the issues can be resolved through a dialogue hence the doctors should end their protest. The talks however failed as a meeting could not be arranged between the representatives of PMA, YDA and the chief minister.



Notification awaited

On January 30 the Sindh government had assured that the doctors demands will be accepted and a notification will be issued in this regard within seven days. As of Saturday, no such notification has been issued as yet.

The doctors' maintained that the boycott will end when the notification is issued. They claimed that the Sindh government’s delay in this regard has forced them to resume their protest. They remain adamant that the strike will continue until the notification is issued.

However, while the protest continues, more than 25,000 patients who visit government hospitals daily in Karachi are suffering. The boycott of OPDs and operation theatres so far, has already caused hundreds of operations to be postponed. Patients, especially those coming from remote areas and those who cannot afford to go elsewhere, are the worst sufferers. The strike continues at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Hospital, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICD), Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, Lyari General Hospital and NICH.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2019.