Daily Times

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) went on strike again in Punjab on March 31 as a part of the ongoing protests by doctors this year. YDA in Punjab and other provinces has been holding strikes and protests for the last few years now regarding a multitude of issues including low salaries, the lack of implementation of a proper service structure to ensure fair and timely promotions, the development and modernisation of public hospitals, an increase in the number of paid seats for recent postgraduate medical officers, proper security to pre-empt terrorism and other threats, etc. As a result of protests in the past, the Punjab government has agreed to most of the YDA’s demands. Yet the leaders of YDA on Tuesday said that 50 percent of the agreed upon conditions have not been met so far, which explains the growing agitation and increase in protests this year. It is about time that the government stops ignoring this disgruntled and essential segment of our community. Hospitals are ill equipped, understaffed and too few to serve the growing medical needs of the urban populace. Because of the lack of hospitals in rural and suburban centres, people from these regions also travel into the cities for healthcare, which also impacts the doctor-patient ratio. Due to these issues, recent medical school graduates are searching for residencies and internships abroad at a rate that is alarming considering the severe deficit of qualified practicing doctors in Pakistan.

Although YDA’s concerns are justified, these strikes are causing further backlogs and delays in providing urgent care in an already faltering and inadequate healthcare system. Three public hospitals in Rawalpindi were not able to tend to patients on the day of the strike, as were several others in other towns and cities in Punjab. Since the government has already agreed to YDA’s demands in the past, it is no longer a question of negotiation or whether these requests should be implemented. The government needs to rise to the responsibility of rehabilitating our ailing healthcare system, which is an urgent concern in a country where the life expectancy is ranked at 170 by the World Bank out of 269 countries, primarily due to inadequate and unavailable healthcare. While the politicians and doctors are caught in this battle of wills, the patients suffer. This democratic government should pay attention to the needs of the public and divest more funds and attention to hospitals. While strengthening the management, staff and facilities of public hospitals, the government also needs to ensure that there are sufficient checks and balances in place for private healthcare institutions to ensure that patients get proper care and employees are treated fairly and encouraged to stay in the country. *