RAWALPINDI: Patients at the city’s government-run hospitals continue to suffer as the young doctors’ strike entered its fifth day on Tuesday.

Young doctors have refused to join their duties at outpatient departments at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital.

More than 6,000 people visit the three hospitals every day. In the absence of services at OPDs, they are now having to wait at already over-crowded emergency departments.

At BBH, patients were referred to private clinics and hospitals due to the strike.

“We visited the hospital because I have been suffering from high blood pressure and stomach problems for the last two days, but the OPD was closed. Seeing this situation, I went back home and got treatment from a private clinic,” Mohanpura resident Mohammad Jaffar said.

He said the doctors’ strike has become the order of the day, while the government makes tall claims but does nothing for the poor, who are the ones visiting government hospitals.

Sajid Akhter from Arya Mohallah said he brought his son to the hospital with a fever, but there were no doctors available.

Mohammad Suleman, who lives on Khanna Road, said he brought his son to BBH with a fever but there were no doctors available. “The government should ban strikes in hospitals frequently visited by the poor,” he said.

When contacted, Young Doctors Association (YDA) BBH President Dr Rana Azeem said the strike would continue until the government repeats the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTI) Reforms Act.

He said YDA representatives met with a committee of Punjab medical colleges’ principals formed by the chief minister to resolve doctors’ issues.

He said the YDA representatives made clear that they would not accept the MTI Reforms Act if the government implements it within this week, adding that doctors will not call off the strike until the government’s position on the act become clear.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2019