KARACHI: Doctors in rural areas to be given allowance - New health policy soon
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 25: The Sindh government will soon announce a new health policy which will specially focus on remote areas in the city where doctors have been facing a lot of problems.
This was stated by provincial Health Secretary Prof Noshad A Sheikh while speaking at a function held in the Lyari General Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Prof Noshad, under the new policy, an extra allowance will be granted to the doctors serving in the remote areas of the city and in this regard necessary legislation will soon be done.
He also stated that the areas like Lyari would also be benefited under the new policy, where doctors had to face numerous problems including those of transport, security etc.
He lauded the services of the doctors working dedicatedly in remote areas, saying they deserved special treatment. He said the government wanted to solve the outstanding problems of the doctors, adding that promotion cases of 1,000 senior doctors had been finalized and sent to high-ups for approval.
The cases, Prof Noshad said, included 400 cases which qualified for promotion into grade 19 and 20. Referring to the problems being faced by the LGH, the health secretary said he was fully aware of the situation, as most of these impediments dated back to the time when he was a medical superintendent at the hospital.
Maintaining that the chronic water shortage in the LGH could not be solved without the support of the community and NGOs, he urged the NGOs and philanthropists to contribute their due share in the welfare efforts being made for the poor patients.
He urged the philanthropists to give generous donations for the treatment of needy patients in Lyari Town as well, adding that it was responsibility of the NGOs to motivate them.
The secretary assured the LGH staff members that he would make all-out efforts for the solution of their problems which were presented by the hospital's MS.
Earlier, the LGH Medical Superintendent Akbar Haider Soomro, in his speech, pointing out various problems the hospital was faced with, said despite having a teaching hospital status, it was being treated as a general hospital, as it was devoid of all such facilities thought necessary for a teaching hospital.
The MS was of the view that a teaching hospital should be managed and run by a person no less than the rank of a professor. He was surprised that the LGH had been run by doctors of general cadres.
He regretted that since the transfer of Prof Noshad some four years back no professor had been appointed in this prestigious office. The MS also particularly mentioned the need of a well-equipped lab and a library at the hospital.
The MS also expressed his dissatisfaction over the slow pace of renovation work at the LGH, which was being carried out by a government agency and sought the assistance of the secretary to direct the agency concerned to speed up the work.
The function was organized by the Doctors Welfare Association. The president and general secretary of the association, Dr Ghafoor Qadri and Dr Amanullah, respectively, in their opening remarks listed various problems faced by the doctors, particularly, overdue cases of senior doctors' promotion.
They listed non-availability of water, transport for doctors, canteen services, proper maintenance of ambulances, restoration of emergency water supply through the tankers and extension of ICU ward among some of the problems which needed immediate solution.
Prof Noshad also administered an oath to the newly elected office-bearers of the DWA. Present on the occasion were Additional Health Secretary Dr Shafqat Abassi, senior professors and doctors, Dr Zaman Sheikh, Dr Kaleem Butt, besides AMS Aslam Pechoo.
