ISLAMABAD: Criticising the conduct of Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, the Federal Health Alliance (FHA) has announced the closure of outpatient departments (OPDs) of Islamabad hospitals and dispensaries from Monday, seeking his resignation.

Moreover, they said they would not participate in the polio campaign starting on September 1.

They urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to seek the resignation of Mustafa Kamal and appoint “someone from the medical field who understands the importance of nursing and allied health professionals”.

The Core Committee of the Health Alliance convened an emergency meeting, attended by representatives of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Polyclinic, National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (Nirm), National Institute of Health (NIH), Federal General Hospital, Capital Development Authority (CDA), TB Hospital and the DHO Office.

Criticise health minister’s conduct, seek his resignation

Participants strongly condemned the “non-serious and inappropriate attitude” of the federal health minister and demanded his immediate resignation.

Those who spoke on the occasion included FHA Chairman Kaleem Ullah, President Chaudhry Qamar Gujar and General Secretary Dr Yousaf.

Speakers pointed out that every year the Ministry of Finance allocates billions of rupees for parliamentarians and other privileged groups, but health employees have been consistently ignored for the past ten years.

“These are the frontline workers who always stand at the forefront during every crisis, yet even four billion rupees are not being made available for them,” they said.

The meeting also alleged discriminatory policies of the Ministry of Finance, which they said were contributing to rising inflation. They warned that depriving health workers of their basic rights would create deep frustration and anxiety among them.

It was further decided that if any department took action against any health employee during the protest, the Federal Health Alliance would defend that employee.

The core committee unanimously decided that from Monday, dispensaries and all OPDs of Islamabad’s public sector health institutions would remain completely shut down.

They said no vaccinations would be administered, no participation would be given in the polio campaign, and no records would be issued from the DHO Office until the notification for the restoration of the Health Allowance was issued.

It is worth mentioning that on August 25, a delegation of the FHA, led by Chaudhry Qamar Gujar, visited the ministry to discuss salary concerns. When they attempted to address the issue with Mustafa Kamal, the minister reportedly said he could do nothing, telling them, “Go and close the hospitals.”

Employees expressed disappointment that the minister did not acknowledge their efforts in working in hospitals without substantial salary hikes. FHA Chairman Kaleem Ullah had scheduled a meeting on August 28 to formulate a strategy following the health minister’s comments.

However, when contacted, the media coordinator of the health ministry stated that the accusation was unfounded. “It was the health minister who listened to the issue of employees [after the passage of the budget] and endorsed that a summary should be moved to the Ministry of Finance for a salary increase.

He himself took an interest in the increase in salaries and asked about the development many times. Employees may have a misunderstanding,” he explained.

It is worth mentioning that after the passage of the financial budget, health professionals rejected it and announced the closure of hospitals.

The federal health minister intervened, and a request was made to the finance minister to increase salaries for health staff, but the request was ultimately denied by the finance ministry.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025