BAHAWALPUR: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Multan chapter has threatened that the outpatient departments (OPDs) of all public hospitals in the province will be shut down from coming Monday if the doctors suspended in the aftermath of transmission of HIV/AIDS to 25 kidney patients at the dialysis unit of the Nishtar Hospital were not reinstated by Saturday.

PMA Multan chapter President Dr Masood Hiraj, along with other office-bearers said this at a press conference in Multan on Wednesday.

Hiraj said if their demand was not met by Saturday, the OPDs of all public sector hospitals across Punjab would be closed down on Monday.

Objecting to the police investigation into the matter, he said that the doctors had not committed any criminal act.

He also warned if the Nishtar Medical University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mehnaz Khakwani was suspended or forced to resign, all faculty members of the varsity would submit their resignations en bloc in protest.

After surfacing of the HIV/AIDS scandal, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had visited the Nishtar Hospital and ordered suspension of the medical superintendent, the head of the Nephrology department, an associate professor, an assistant professor, an admin registrar and the head nurse.

Meanwhile, the Punjab health department has neither posted the new medical superintendent of the hospital so far, nor gave the additional charge of the office to any of the senior doctors.

As a result, the administrative matters of the hospital were in limbo for the last many days.

Similarly, the new head of the hospital’s Nephrology department could also not be appointed by the government.

Sources say that Prof Dr Zahra Nazish was offered the additional charge of the post, but she declined, resulting in suspension of the dialysis services at the hospital, while no new patient was being registered for dialysis at the facility.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2024