PMA asks for bigger health budget

Pakistan Medical Association calls for 100 per cent increase from previous budget.

HYDERABAD:

The Pakistan Medical Association, Sindh has called for a 100 per cent increase from the previous year’s health budget of the Sindh government.

A PMA meeting on Saturday, chaired by its president Dr Samrina Hashmi, made recommendations for addressing issues of the government’s doctors and to improve performance of the government health services.

The meeting also demanded merger of Peoples Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) project as a regular service of the health department. The PMA also called for regularisation of the thousands of employees of the PPHI as the servants of the Sindh government.

Dr Hashmi said the issue of doctors’ promotion under the four-tier formula has been pending for years despite an order of the Sindh High Court in June 2011. On behalf of the PMA, she recommended promotion of 50 per cent doctors serving in BPS-17 to BPS-18, 30 per cent of BPS-18 to BPS-19, 18 per cent of BPS-19 to BPS-20 and two per cent of BPS-20 to BPS-21.

The meeting emphasised that the budget should focus on improving the basic health services by allocating adequate funds. The other demands included raising the stipend of postgraduate and house job students, increasing health professional allowance and providing security at the government hospitals’ emergency units, among others.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2013.