LAHORE: The government hospital employees, including young doctors, under the banner of the Grand Health Alliance (GHA), blocked main roads of the city, creating traffic congestion at various places for hours on Friday, causing problems for commuters, especially patients.

The protesters took out separate rallies and staged sit-ins on Ferozepur Road, city canal, The Mall, Jail Road and outside the Shaikh Zayed Hospital around 11 am as per the plan they had announced on Thursday, blocking these busy arteries for around two hours. The protests not only threw the traffic out of gear on these roads for hours, but also aggravated the situation on adjoining arteries of the city.

The closure of the Jail Road, one of the busiest arteries of the city, particularly created problems for the patients intending to visit the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), Services Hospital and many private healthcare facilities.

Eyewitnesses say that many ambulances carrying serious patients also got stuck in the traffic jam due to the blockage of Jail Road.

Because of the agitation, a similar situation was witnessed near other state-run hospitals, including Lahore General Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and Mayo Hospital, where the protesters had staged sit-ins in the middle of the roads to press the government to withdraw the decision of outsourcing the government health facilities.

Addressing the protesters, the Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) Punjab leaders showed their serious concerns at the “pathetic” response by the health and other authorities towards their legitimate demands.

YDA Punjab president Dr Shoib Niazi said the employees of the government hospitals were protesting for the last 18 days but no one bothered to initiate a dialogue with them.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025