Patients suffer miserably as doctors' protests enter third day
The physicians have been demanding increase in their salaries, allowances and health insurance.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Doctors’ strike entered its third day on Wednesday while thousands of patients suffer intense difficulties due to the shutdown of Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in government hospitals across Sindh.
Reportedly, the physicians have been demonstrating against the provincial government of Sindh for failing to increase their salaries, allowances and health insurance.
Yesterday, two patients died allegedly due to unavailability of treatment at the hospitals in Naushehro Feroze.
Earlier, it was being reported that the Sindh government had accepted the demands of protesting doctors, however, the other side of the story mentioned that negotiations between provincial health secretary and doctors had failed.
Importantly, doctors have given a call of sit-in on January 31, outside the chief minister house in Sindh, if their demands were not met.
The striking doctors have demanded that the provincial government increase their salaries, allowances and health insurance to the same levels as those offered to government doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
The OPDs of hospitals in Hyderabad, Khairpur, Tharparkar, Nawabshah and other cities remained close as doctors associated with the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and other similar organisations boycotted their duties.
The doctors at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Lyari General Hospital and other government-run hospitals have been holding demonstrations outside their institutes, and have been chanting full-throat slogans in favour of their demands.
Contrarily, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Health, and Population Welfare Azra Fazal Pechuho said that allowances have been increased in different cadres ranging from Rs25,000 to Rs75,000.
“Doctors of grade-17 to grade-18 will get Rs60,000 whereas physicians of grade-19 and grade-20 will get Rs90,000 allowances,” she said.
