Doctors in Sindh to boycott duties in isolation wards if not provided PPE

PMA, YDA point out that doctors in isolation, regular wards are exposed to risk without safety kits

HYDERABAD: Doctors treating coronavirus patients at the government hospitals in Sindh would boycott their duties from Tuesday (tomorrow) if the government fails to provide them personal protective equipment, warned the Sindh chapters of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and Young Doctors Association (YDA) on Sunday.

Addressing a meeting called on the matter, PMA Sindh secretary Dr Pir Manzoor Ali said, "The doctors and paramedics in the province continued their silent protest for the sixth day, wearing black armbands at work, but the government hasn't budged."

Co-chairing the meeting with YDA Sindh president Dr Omer Sultan, he said the doctors working in isolation wards as well as in other wards were exposed to the virus without PPE.

"We have repeatedly demanded the provision of PPE to doctors earlier but now more than a month has passed since the first case was reported in the province and doctors and paramedics haven't been given safety kits," he lamented.

He said that though doctors would still carry out duties, they would not visit the wards where confirmed and suspected cases of the virus were admitted if they were not provided PPE.

The PMA and YDA also demanded the payment of allowances and the return of the amounts deducted from the salaries of doctors for the Sindh government's Coronavirus Emergency Fund. They further called for staggering the duties of medical staff to prevent them from being over-burdened.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2020.