April 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429

KARACHI, April 8: Doctors associated with various city hospitals on Tuesday urged the relevant authorities to take immediate action against those involved in the kidnapping of one of their colleagues.

The health professionals also called for effective measures to check persistent lawlessness and criminal activities in the surroundings of Government Lyari General Hospital.

The doctors put forward these demands at a general body meeting at the Lyari General Hospital held under the aegis of the Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi and Doctors’ Association of the LGH.

An action committee has also been constituted to address the issue of the kidnap of Dr Asim Jafery and to hold talks with the parliamentarians belonging to Lyari regarding the security of the doctors and paramedics associated with the LGH.

Dr Jafery, a senior faculty member of the Dow University of Health Sciences, was reportedly kidnapped from outside the LGH some days back and was later released on the payment of Rs500,000 in ransom.

After the incident Dr Jafery had stopped performing duties at the LGH and, according to a source, had submitted a report to the vice-chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences, seeking protection and transfer to some other health facility.

The health professionals expressed concern over the continued lawlessness and presence of anti-social elements particularly in Lyari and other parts of the city in general.

They were of the view that in such a situation it was difficult for the doctors and paramedics to perform their duties effectively.

The general secretary of the PMA, Karachi, Dr Samrina Hashmi, said that doctors should come together on a single platform and stand up for these problems.

“If doctors are not alarmed at this stage for their security and not united for the purpose then no one is going to listen to them”, she remarked.

The meeting was also attended by Dr Mahmood Khan, Dr Humayun Bashir, Dr Umer Farooq, Dr Amjad Siraj, Dr Khalid Malik, Dr Muneer Sheikh, Dr Ishaq Sarhandi and Dr Nawaz Pawan.

Another doctor said that the administration of the Lyari General Hospital should also rise to the occasion and stand beside the doctors who had been performing duties, despite all risks, for the sake of the poor patients.

If needed, he said, they would seek support from the patients visiting the LGK and would hold a joint rally to press our demands and to make the police, Rangers, the university administration and others at the helm of affairs check these notorious elements.