Health hold-up: Patients fume as doctors continue boycott for kidnapped colleagues
People who travel from long distances to Sukkur’s government hospitals particularly put out.
SUKKUR:
The doctors continue to boycott work at one of Sukkur’s largest government hospitals in a bid to press the authorities into rescuing two kidnapped colleagues. But for the patients, it could not have come at a worse time.
The two doctors were kidnapped from Jacobabad on November 20.
Every day, hundreds of people who come to the medical facility are turned away because doctors are not available. Some of them even travel long distances in order to get to the hospital. Mai Shamul is one such person. “I have come all the way from the Jehan Khan village for my daughter’s checkup. But the nurse keeps telling me that there are no doctors to have a look at my child,” she told The Express Tribune. “I have spent Rs100 to bring my daughter all the way from the village to this hospital.”
Since the kidnapping of two doctors, Dr Imtiaz Wagan and Dr Azhar Ali Shah, healthcare professionals throughout Sindh have protested by boycotting their duties at the OPD for two hours every day. Hundreds of patients from far flung areas have to return back to their homes disappointed, as they cannot afford to pay a heavy fee for treatment at private clinics instead.
Manzoor Ali Mahar, who had been afflicted by kidney pain, had come all the way from Chak to get a medical examination. When he reached Civil hospital, the clerk told him to come the next morning, as he had unfortunately arrived during the boycott hours. “I spent Rs45 to come to the hospital and the clerk is asking me to come tomorrow!” he said angrily.
A resident of New Pind, Bashiran, argued with the clerk, who was telling her to come to the hospital the next day. “I have brought my pregnant daughter-in-law for a medical checkup and you are asking me to come tomorrow?” she asked the clerk angrily. “What can I do?” the clerk, Ghulam Ali, replied. “The doctors are on strike right now and I can only ask you to come tomorrow.” The woman was not satisfied with this response. “I know they are on strike and are boycotting the OPD at government hospitals,” Bashiran said. “But why are they still offering treatment at their private clinics?” At this, Ghulam Ali, who was looking quite flustered and fed up with the plethora of questions thrown at him, simply walked out of the room. The Pakistan Medical Association’s Dr Usman Mako admitted that the patients were having a hard time. But he pointed out that almost a month has gone by but the police have yet to locate and rescue the kidnapped doctors. “We don’t want to inconvenience people, but what else we are supposed to do when the government is not listening to us?” he said.
The doctors continued to protest. Led by a former MNA and the ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Sindh, Asadullah Bhutto, they organised a rally and staged sit-in at the Indus highway near Jacobabad City Centre on Monday. The traffic between Sindh and Balochistan came to a halt as a result for more than an hour.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2011.
The doctors continue to boycott work at one of Sukkur’s largest government hospitals in a bid to press the authorities into rescuing two kidnapped colleagues. But for the patients, it could not have come at a worse time.
The two doctors were kidnapped from Jacobabad on November 20.
Every day, hundreds of people who come to the medical facility are turned away because doctors are not available. Some of them even travel long distances in order to get to the hospital. Mai Shamul is one such person. “I have come all the way from the Jehan Khan village for my daughter’s checkup. But the nurse keeps telling me that there are no doctors to have a look at my child,” she told The Express Tribune. “I have spent Rs100 to bring my daughter all the way from the village to this hospital.”
Since the kidnapping of two doctors, Dr Imtiaz Wagan and Dr Azhar Ali Shah, healthcare professionals throughout Sindh have protested by boycotting their duties at the OPD for two hours every day. Hundreds of patients from far flung areas have to return back to their homes disappointed, as they cannot afford to pay a heavy fee for treatment at private clinics instead.
Manzoor Ali Mahar, who had been afflicted by kidney pain, had come all the way from Chak to get a medical examination. When he reached Civil hospital, the clerk told him to come the next morning, as he had unfortunately arrived during the boycott hours. “I spent Rs45 to come to the hospital and the clerk is asking me to come tomorrow!” he said angrily.
A resident of New Pind, Bashiran, argued with the clerk, who was telling her to come to the hospital the next day. “I have brought my pregnant daughter-in-law for a medical checkup and you are asking me to come tomorrow?” she asked the clerk angrily. “What can I do?” the clerk, Ghulam Ali, replied. “The doctors are on strike right now and I can only ask you to come tomorrow.” The woman was not satisfied with this response. “I know they are on strike and are boycotting the OPD at government hospitals,” Bashiran said. “But why are they still offering treatment at their private clinics?” At this, Ghulam Ali, who was looking quite flustered and fed up with the plethora of questions thrown at him, simply walked out of the room. The Pakistan Medical Association’s Dr Usman Mako admitted that the patients were having a hard time. But he pointed out that almost a month has gone by but the police have yet to locate and rescue the kidnapped doctors. “We don’t want to inconvenience people, but what else we are supposed to do when the government is not listening to us?” he said.
The doctors continued to protest. Led by a former MNA and the ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Sindh, Asadullah Bhutto, they organised a rally and staged sit-in at the Indus highway near Jacobabad City Centre on Monday. The traffic between Sindh and Balochistan came to a halt as a result for more than an hour.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2011.