Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah urged the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Saturday to help the government ensure that the doctors transferred to health centres and hospitals in the rural areas stay there. “Unavailability of experienced doctors and medical specialists at government healthcare centres, even in the sub-urban areas, is a major problem,” he told doctors at the oath taking ceremony of PMA Sindh office-bearers for 2011-13. “Whenever doctors are transferred or appointed to rural health centres, taluka hospitals or semi-urban areas, influential sectors pressure the administration to stop this from happening,” the chief minister added. “This has aggravated the menace of quackery in areas where there are no qualified medical experts and specialists.”
Shah said even in Karachi’s Lyari and another well-equipped hospital in a city like Sukkur, there are several positions vacant as qualified experts do not want to serve there. These issues, he said, have to be addressed and the government is committed to solve the genuine problems faced by the medical community including significant raise in emoluments and salary, fool-proof security and a proper promotion mechanism. He said that as per the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari, the Sindh government has constituted a committee including the finance minister, health minister and vice chancellors of different medical universities to recommend measures for the benefit of doctors.
“In accordance with the committee’s suggestion, a significant amount of money has been allocated for the health sector in the upcoming budget, and the well-being of the medical community has also been taken into consideration,” said Shah. He said government has already initiated a mechanism for the welfare of young doctors and postgraduate trainees with specific reference to increasing their stipend.
“Doctors must also give a sense of ownership to the medical profession and the institution they belong to,” he said. “Public confidence must be restored and strict action will be taken against people resorting to violence against medical professionals in the hospitals,” Shah assured the doctors.
Speaking on the occasion, provincial Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed said that the government is committed to counter the challenge of “brain drain” from the country, particularly when it comes to doctors.
“There are numerous reasons for this including inadequate career structure, low salary, poor job security and the decline in personal and professional safety,” he said. “Being a doctor myself, I am fully conscious of the problems faced by people asscoated with the field of medicine and fully understand the sense of deprivation among doctors from Kashmore to Karachi,” he added. He said medical community also needs to acknowledge that the present coalition government has made sincere efforts to solve its problems.
“Despite the fact that availability of finance is an issue for the government but still there has been an increase in the doctors’ salaries, emoluments and stipends,” he said. Being part of the committee constituted by the Sindh Chief Minister for recommendations on the well-being of medical community, he said realistic and significant suggestions have been forwarded and would be incorporated in the budget for 2011-12. “One of the most relevant suggestions is to provide doctors with special allowances similar to the ones announced for personnel of other essential services including police,” the minister said.
“Besides suggesting better security for doctors, proper accommodation arrangements have also been recommended,” he added. “Keeping in view the fact that people belonging to different professions have been granted land to develop their colonies, we have recommended allotment of land for residential colonies of doctors across the province.” The newly-elected president of PMA Sindh, Dr Samrina Hashmi in her presentation requested the chief minister to announce a relief package for the doctors. She said that the Health Commission Bill forwarded by the PMA that specifically focuses on the safety of doctors and regularisation as well as standardisation of private clinics and hospitals must be adopted by the government.
Basic health units, taluka hospitals and district government hospitals must be upgraded so that post-graduate trainees are trained there and the issue of unavailability of doctors in rural areas could be addressed. “This will also help lessen the dependence on a few tertiary care hospitals in urban centres,” she said. “Moreover, the time period of doctors serving in rural areas must be counted in their professional training,” she added and assured the government that the PMA would ensure that doctors serve in the hospitals instead of their private clinics. PMA Karachi President Prof. Idrees Adhi said that the PMA would never support any attempt that violates the rights of the patients or deny medical treatment to them at the emergency departments.
Senior physician and a former president of PMA Sindh, Dr Badar Siddiqui spoke about the growing distrust between patients and the doctors. He pointed out that the emerging challenges, both professional and technical, need to be addressed by the medical community through a pragmatic approach.