KARACHI: Senior doctors representing the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have warned that private healthcare services across the country would be closed down if the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) didn’t stop what they described as “harassment of the medical community by private mercenaries”.

At a presser, the association also demanded the removal of medical practices from the tax category accorded to commercial beauty parlours and withdrawal of the decision to use private auditors.

“The government has announced the hiring of 2,000 private auditors to perform FBR’s duties. Is the state admitting that its own officials are technically incapable, or is this simply a way to accommodate favourites in high-paying consultancy roles?” asked PMA secretary general Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro at the briefing held at the PMA House.

If these 2,000 private auditors were the “experts”, they should replace the existing “bloated and incapable FBR infrastructure” entirely, he added.

On behalf of the association, he demanded that the government respect patient confidentiality laws and stop the use of private auditors. He also asked for launching a “retention drive” with tax incentives for doctors serving in rural areas.

“The PMA is no longer just asking for relief; we are demanding accountability. You cannot tax a doctor who has already migrated. You cannot audit a clinic that has been replaced by a quack.”

In early 2025, Dr Shoro pointed out, 1,061 Pakistani doctors secured residency positions in the United States, the highest number ever in a single year.

“State hostility forced these doctors to leave for greener pastures. Secondly, almost every private practitioner treats a percentage of patients pro bono, a fact FBR’s crude algorithms ignore. With inflation at 6.1pc, doctors have absorbed the skyrocketing costs of imported supplies to keep healthcare affordable for the common man.”

The speakers also questioned “the luxury lifestyle of tax officials”, while calling for across-the-board accountability and transparency.

They warned that if the government began “harassing doctors by mercenary auditors”, the response would be a total nationwide shutdown of private healthcare services.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2025