January 21, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 20, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 20: The Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi chapter, has hailed the Sindh government’s decision to accommodate 1,000 doctors and 3,000 paramedics in public sector facilities scattered across the province.

In a press statement issued here on Friday, PMA General Secretary Dr S.M. Qaiser Sajjad said that the details about employment opportunities for health care professionals as announced by Sindh Health Secretary were highly appreciable.

“The strategy if materialized in true spirit will pave way for quality health care of general public,” he said.

Dr Sajjad said that some 300 posts for doctors were lying vacant owing to which the masses were facing difficulties in seeking proper and timely treatment in many of the areas around Sindh. He appealed to the provincial health department to fill all vacant positions, on strict merit basis, with specific reference to rural health centres, taluka headquarter hospitals, basic health units and dispensaries, lying largely non-operational for quite some time.

Maintaining that easy access to quality health care is a basic right of citizens, the senior doctor suggested that all health care facilities must have necessary provision for doctors and paramedics along with essential gadgets.

This would also protect people against the menace of quackery, he said, adding that there are estimated to be 600,000 quacks playing havoc with public life across the country - including 30,000 to 40,000 in Karachi only.

On behalf of the PMA, he appealed to the policy makers to formulate a stringent law against quackery. — APP