LAHORE: Scores of paramedics staged a rally on Wednesday at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology to protest delay in the acceptance of their demands, including service structure, for the lower cadre employees of state-run hospitals in Punjab.

Gathered under the banner of the Punjab Paramedical Alliance, they criticised the health department and held it responsible for delay in the provision of service structure and regularization of services of contract employees.

Addressing protesters, PPA leaders threatened to extend the protest to the province-wide if the government did not accept their demands within a week or so.

PGMI: An alumni conference was organised at the Post-Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) on Tuesday.

PGMI Board of Management Chairman retired Gen Ziauddin, PGMI Principal Prof Anjum Habib Vohra, Prof Mahmood Ali, Prof Dr Ejaz Ahsan, former PGMI principal Prof Nazir Ahmed and Prof Sadia Chiragh were present.

Mr Ziauddin urged the experts to focus on research keeping their junior colleagues abreast with the advancements being made internationally in medical science.

Prof Vohra said that the PGMI had been producing medical specialists for the last 40 years and had helped overcome the shortage of medical officers in all the medical colleges and hospitals of the country.

He said only the provision of modern research labs and higher education could help meet the challenges of modern age and more research in the profession.

He demanded the construction of a helipad at Lahore General Hospital (LGH) so that seriously injured people could be shifted to the hospital quickly. At the end of the function, shields and commendatory certificates were also distributed among the participants.