Societies valuing their members work towards ensuring their safety and of protecting their interests and choices. Unfortunately, here in Pakistan, life of an individual, or even his existence, is considered a burden and thus liable to forfeiture. A life, having just entered our world, has been forfeited by the kerb outside a hospital in Balochistan. The new-born lost his life because he could not be provided timely medical attention at the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital where medical staff associated with the Young Doctors Association (YDA) was on strike. The young doctors were protesting against what they call the provincial government’s plan to privatise public-sector hospitals under the guise of health cards.
Unfortunately, such is the value of life in our country, especially in a place like Balochistan. Doctors, like in other places around Pakistan, have frequently found it convenient to arm-twist the government into conceding their demands — irrespective of whether they are just or not. They care little about the wellbeing of patients admitted or due to be admitted to their wards. To them, patients dying is a daily occurrence, whether they receive treatment or not. If you have had the misfortune of going to a hospital for treatment, you will wonder whether doctors and nurses working in the country completely skipped the course on bedside manners and patient management.
Similarly, the government is content with imposing a new structure on doctors without consulting them. No one even bothers to find out what patients require beyond access to cheap medical facilities. The fact is that this affliction of ours has deep roots in how we behave as a society, which is completely dysfunctional and seems oblivious to its own needs. Unless and until things change for the better, the doctors will keep boycotting duties and babies will keep dying in the streets.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2021.
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