SWABI: The employees of public sector hospitals held a protest here on Thursday against the government for converting the health facilities into medical teaching institutions (MTIs).

The district president of Paramedical Association, Abdul Hakeem, led the protest. The doctors and nurses also participated in the protest. Except emergency, all services including vaccination in all public sector hospitals across the district remained completely suspended.

The employees gathered on the premises of district headquarters hospital. The staffers of Bacha Khan Hospital Complex Shahmansoor, Chota Lahor and Topi hospitals also took part in the protest.

The protesters said that government first converted Bacha Khan Hospital into MTI and later DHQ, Topi and Chota Lahor hospitals were also made part of the new system under the MTI law, creating disturbance among the workers. All these hospitals are now run by the Boards of Governors (BoGs).

The protesters rejected the promulgation of MTI Act and demanded that it should be immediately withdrawn. They said that the law was neither beneficial for patients nor the employees. They said that system introduced by government utterly failed.

Sharafatullah Yousafzai, central president of All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association, said that the MTI system would deprive poor patients of the right of free treatment. They said that government converted hospitals into corporate units. They added that workers would lose jobs owing to enforcement of the system.

Syed Roidar Shah, provincial president of Paramedical Association, said that the MTI system would change the entire landscape of the hospitals, allowing the health facilities to charge fees from the patients for meeting the expenditures. The earlier nominal charges were expected to be increased manifold, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022