LARKANA: The Young Consultants Association warned on Wednesday that they would boycott duties at outpatients department at Chandka Medical College Hospital if their demands for provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), medicines and equipment in wards and operation theatres were not met till Sunday.

The association’s leaders Dr Ihsanullah Malik, Dr Zahid Ali Shaikh, president and general secretary of YCA respectively, and others said at a press conference at Larkana Press Club that medical superintendent of Chandka Medical College Hospital was reluctant to provide PPE to doctors.

They said that due to unavailability of PPE a number of consultants had contracted Covid-19 and it seemed as if the administration had sent soldiers unarmed to fight on borders.

They said the MS was bound to provide required material at the hospital but he had failed in his duty. “We don’t comprehend the slackness on the part of MS. We had arranged the PPE on our own which was responsibility of CMCH managers. We cannot put our lives in danger to run the OPDs amid rise in Covid-19 cases in the country and particularly in Larkana,” they said.

They said that after end of deadline on Sunday they would stop working in OPDs from Monday and subsequently if their genuine demands remained unfulfilled, they would boycott emergency duties.

Dr Zahid Shaikh, who had earlier been diagnosed with Covid-19, narrated the difficulty he had faced in having himself tested officially when he suspected the infection. Finally, he got his test done from a private laboratory but as soon as he defeated the virus in isolation he was again posted in ICU for coronavirus patients at CMCH, he said.

Dr Ghulam Abbas Qadri, head of department of nephrology, said that since two months the laboratory that had been carrying out blood tests in the unit was not functioning but the MS did nothing to restore it.

They appealed to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Sindh chief minister and provincial minister Sohail Anwar Siyal who was focal person for Covid-19 in Larkana district, to resolve their issues. “We are not fleeing from duties but only demand justice for health personnel,” they said.

They expressed concern over irresponsible conduct of people following relaxation in lockdown and urged them to be serious. If citizens took it lightly the situation could become critical, they warned.

Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association of CMCH also endorsed demands of the consultants and the letter the principal of Chandka Medical College had written to secretary of health. The paramedics would wear black armbands on Thursday to protest against the MS, said the paramedics.

Meanwhile, the secretary health on Wednesday constituted a three-member committee to inquire into the compliant received from the principal of CMC.

Naseemuddin Mirani, additional secretary of health, would head the committee and Dr Aijaz Khanzada and Zulfikar Dars would be its members. The committee was tasked to examine the complaints, fix responsibility and submit report within seven days, said sources.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2020