Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah would announce increase in honorarium and other allowance of nurses on Saturday (tomorrow). This was stated by Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed in a statement issued on Thursday. He said a meeting chaired by the chief minister has reviewed the summary moved by the provincial health department for provision of funds required for increasing honorarium and other allowances of the nursing staff working in government hospitals. He said that positive decisions in this respect have been taken in the meeting, which was attended by the officials of all departments concerned. He advised the protesting nurses to wait for the announcement by the chief minister in connection with their demands and desist from protesting, as the government has taken up their issue on priority basis.
Earlier, the chief minister held a meeting with the Health Department at the Chief Minister’s House. The meeting was attended by the health minister Health Secretary Muhammad Hashim Raza Zaidi and Chief Minister’s Secretary Agha Jan Akhtar. An official statement said that the meeting discussed the issues and demands of the paramedical staff, particularly the nurses, with respect to financial implications. It was decided to form a committee of the health minister and Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, which would hold a meeting on Friday. The committee would discuss the demands and problems of the nurses and would submit its recommendations. The chief minister directed the health minister to provide health facilities to the needy patients without any interruption and ordered ensuring all departments in the government hospitals function smoothly. He said that the paramedical staff, particularly the nurses, should perform their duties with dedication and in the light of the oath they have taken. The chief minister assured that the genuine problems of the nurses would be solved immediately and the recommendations of the ministerial committee would be upheld. The statement said that the meeting was informed that the death of five children at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre due to strike of nurses is baseless, as only three children had died. One of them was suffering from meningitis and was admitted in critical condition, while the other two were on ventilation for the past few days and the cause of their death was not the strike of nurses.