LAHORE, Dec 13: The Pakistan Medical Association, Punjab, will launch a province-wide protest drive against the delay in implementation of chief minister's announcement regarding regularization of services of doctors serving on a contract basis.

The Punjab PMA executive committee meeting, chaired by president Dr Dil Muhammad Mirza at PMA House on Monday, decided that doctors would wear black armbands as a mark of protest on Dec 20. It also decided to hold a doctors' convention to highlight the issue of regularization of doctors serving on contract in Lahore on Jan 11.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Punjab PMA secretary-general Dr Ashraf Nizami said the committee discussed the issues of services being provided by public sector hospitals, medical education, joblessness, healthcare services, handing over of BHUs to NGOs and delay in the implementation of CM's orders.

While adopting different resolutions, Dr Nizami said the committee demanded that the government should abolish the users charges and avoid the policy of generating resources from poor patients.

He said the committee took serious notice of the shortage of faculty in medical colleges and asked the government to recruit faculty on a permanent basis through the Punjab Public Service Commission. He said the shortage of faculty tantamount to compromise on the quality of medical education.

The Punjab PMA demanded that the government should seriously consider the issue of joblessness among doctors and take concrete measures to provide jobs to the medical graduates. While those appointed on a contract basis be regularized. Dr Nizami said the executive committee criticized the government for offering 'contracts' to NGOs to run its basic health units in the province.

He said the committee also called upon the government to complete the process of promotion of doctors allegedly being delayed by the health department bureaucracy. The committee demanded that the government should take effective measures to run its healthcare facilities under its own administration.