Lahore – The outdoor patient departments (OPDs) of key hospitals of the city remained closed on Wednesday because junior doctors abiding by the strike, announced by the Young Doctors Association (YDA), refused to accommodate incoming patients.
Hospitals affected by the strike include Mayo Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, Services Hospital, Children Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. After taking to the streets on early Tuesday the YDA had announced a strike in all hospitals throughout Punjab till undecided time.
Doctors have refused to work and are demanding a raise in their pay. The young doctors claim that the Punjab government was responsible for such a large number of doctors emigrating from the country. They say had the government paid doctors adequately none of the doctors would have been forced to leave the country.
‘DEMANDS SHOULD BE MET’: Punjab YDA President Dr Hamid Butt said doctors have been left with no other option other than refusing to work. He said young and competent doctors were leaving the country as they were getting a better salary package aboard. He said the Punjab chief minister had promised the young doctors for a pay raise but nothing has been done.
While comparing doctors of Pakistan from medics abroad, Butt said doctors abroad were given more importance only because the governments there gave more importance to health plans and schemes, and consequently issues related to health sectors were also solved rapidly. He said that it was shameful that the CM and the health secretary ‘lied’ openly.
Dr Hamid was of the opinion that the bureaucracy hid the true facts from the CM and presented a distorted picture. He said the time for table talks was now over and he maintained that the strike will continue till further notice. A senior surgeon while seeking anonymity said doctors should get a raise. He said the government should stop wasting money on mobile hospitals and building extra medical colleges and start investing money on the salaries of young and competent doctors. He said the government has announced to open four colleges, agreeing to invest Rs 200 to 250 million.
‘IMPRACTICAL DEMANDS’: Health Secretary Fawad Hasan while talking to Pakistan Today said had the doctors demanded something ‘which made sense’ it would have been fulfilled a long time ago. He revealed that young doctors were demanding Rs 70,000 for medical officers and Rs 100,000 for senior medical officers. He said the government was being patient at the moment but shall not continue to act like a ‘silent spectator’.
“These doctors study on public money in the first place, the government starts investing in them from the first day they enter medicine, but this demand of theirs is just not practical. We still retrain our concern that they are the students of our nation,” he said. He maintained the government shall still show flexibility till needed.
