Young Doctors Association (YDA) on Sunday staged a protest demonstration, rejecting the Essential Health Service Ordinance of 2011 and warned of a long march if their demands were not fulfilled. They also burnt copies of the ordinance. Balochistan Governor, on recommendations of the provincial government, issued an Ordinance under which the health services were declared essential and barred doctors and other medical staff from observing strikes. Doctors will face dismissal from government services and will have to undergo three years of rigorous punishment if they went on a strike and closed government hospitals. A large number of young doctors, led by YDA President Dr Abdul Samad, Professor Dr Abdul Rauf Shah and Professor Dr Najeeb participated in the demonstration, held in Civil Hospital Quetta.
Protesting doctors, on strike for the last several weeks, chanted slogans against the provincial government and health department. They termed the Health Service Ordinance 2011 as an “Anti-doctor ordinance,” saying that they would never accept it.
Addressing the demonstration, Dr Abdul Samad Panezai and Dr Abdul Rauf Shah alleged the government for trying to sabotage the doctor’s movement. They warned of a long march towards Islamabad if the government did not review its decision.
Terming the announcement of Health Ordinance 2011 an undemocratic decision, they said doctors would continue with their protest for legitimate rights. They said, despite the strike, they did not close emergency centres and were continuously providing health facilities to patients in all emergency and casualty departments of the hospital. They said the government had used force against doctors in response to a peaceful rally.
They vowed to continue with the strike until genuine demands including a pay raise and other benefits equivalent to doctors of the other province were accepted. Meanwhile, doctors continued with their strike and all out-patient departments (OPDs) remained closed, while scheduled operations were cancelled or postponed for an indefinite period at all major state-run hospitals in the provincial capital.
Similarly, doctors also observed a strike in other districts of the province and did not attend patients in some private hospitals and clinics that caused immense difficulties for patients. Meanwhile, Additional Session Judge IV Quetta Bashir Ahmad Badini ordered a FIR against Provincial Health Minister Ainullah Shams, secretary health and police officials on allegations by junior doctors that they were beaten up during their peaceful rally. Young Doctors Association filed a plea in the session court in which they stated that doctors had conducted a peaceful rally and wanted to register their protest with the chief minister but on directives of the Provincial Health Minister Ainullah Shams and Secretary Health Asmathullah Kakar, police personnel used force, teargas shells and baton-charge against participants of the rally.