Health services closed and treatment refused for many hours
PDA provincial president says if govt doesn’t meet the deadline, continuous strikes will prevail
PESHAWAR
Providing a two-day deadline to the government for the safe recovery of Dr Intikhab Alam, doctors associations on Tuesday held protest demonstrations in three major hospitals, Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and in private clinics in Dabgari Garden in Peshawar.
As a protest, health services except the emergency wards were suspended in LRH and a two-hour boycott of health services in Hayatabad Medical Complex and Khyber Teaching Hospital were also observed. All the private clinics in Dabgari Garden were closed on the third day.
Postgraduate Medical Institute Teaching Staff Association (PGMITSA) President Dr Sajjad Mohammad Khan led the protest demonstration at LRH. He said that the government and security agencies have failed to provide security to the citizens.
Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) Provincial President Dr Shahsawar Khan while condemning the kidnapping of the Dr Intikhab Alam said that if the government failed to recover Alam on Thursday morning then full on strikes will prevail through out hundreds of hospitals.
“We are asking the government to recover Dr Intikhab and accept their charter of demands, which they had handed over to the government three months ago and were still pending with the chief minister,” he added.
Talking to the Pakistan Today on the phone Shahsawar said that they did not want the patients to suffer. The government has not taken actions and therefore it is essential for us to take such decisions,” he added.
Besides the PDA, Khyber Medical Collage Teachers Association (KMCAT), Postgraduate Medical Institute teaching Staff Association (PGMITSA), Peoples Doctors Forum and the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) were participating in the protest. They demanded the safe and early recovery of the kidnapped Dr Intikhab Alam and demanded security to their communities.
Patients told Pakistan Today that they traveled from different places to these hospitals, paying fair that they could not afford. However, upon reaching the hospitals, they were told that they could not receive treatment today. Imran, a resident of Swabi said he took his old mother to LRH but they refused to treat her. Zuhaib, a 55-year old male, said that he did not receive treatment from private clinics either.
