KARACHI, June 7: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) expressing disappointment over the budget for the fiscal year 2005-06 has urged the government to review the health allocation and increase it significantly so that healthcare could be provided to people.

Speaking at a press conference at the PMA House on Tuesday, President PMA Dr Umer Ayub Khan and Secretary General Dr Sher Shah Syed said they had met the Prime Minister in April 2005 to discuss health issues.

The Prime Minister, they said, was informed about non-functioning Basic Health Units (BHUs), Rural Health Centres (RHCs), Taluka Head Quarters (THQs) and District Head Quarters (DHQs).

“We also expressed concern over the unavailability of emergency care for poor people and proposed that at least six per cent of the GNP, as proposed by the WHO, should be spent on health. The government should make sure that poor patients are befitted by its policies,” they added.

They said it was disappointing that the government had not increased the health budget to face challenges in the sector keeping in view that a massive investment was required to activate the BHUs, RHCs and THQs. They added that the proposed allocation in the new budget for the purpose was not enough.

“The government has also failed to allocate money for providing emergency healthcare to people. It is good to know that the government has realized that the Civil Hospital Karachi requires a proper emergency and trauma centre.

“The PMA, however, believes that the government should have planned such centres in all big and small cities,” the doctors said, adding that the budget had no allocation in this regard.

They stated that it seemed that grants, donations, loans, coming from the USAID, the DFID, the ADB, the World Bank and other agencies for HIV, blindness, women health, etc were also included in the budget as contribution from the government.

“The minor increase from 0.8 to 1.4 per cent is not enough to show the government’s political commitment in health,” they told.

They said health was a basic right of people and it should not be provided as though a charity.

Talking about the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC)’s affairs, they said that from the last few months, the PMDC was under direct attack from the Federal Ministry of Health for no reason. A campaign was initiated to weaken its credibility, the stated.

Normal working at the PMDC was stopped by legal actions taken by private medical colleges, the said.

“The PMA is extremely concerned about the situation and believes that the government should not interfere in the PMDC’s matters,” it was observed.

They maintained that the PMDC should remain and act as an independent, autonomous and powerful body to monitor the standard of medical education and training in Pakistan.

Dr Ayub and Dr Sher Shah also called upon the government not to play in the hands of owners of private medical institutes against the PMDC, while asking the council to treat private and public medical colleges equally.

They said that the PMA had submitted a document for reforms in the PMDC, hoping that the government would make it more democratic by including members from the assembly, Senate, judiciary, and private and public medical colleges, journalists and practicing doctors.

They assured the government of every possible assistance on behalf of the PMA in this regard.

Secretary General PMA Karachi Dr Qaiser Sajjad and Dr Aziz Khan Tank were also present.—PPI