KARACHI: Expressing serious concern over the hostile conditions currently prevailing at government hospitals in Balochistan where healthcare providers are being “harassed, attacked and killed”, the representatives of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) at a presser held on Wednesday warned that the association would go for a nationwide protest if its grievances were not immediately addressed.

Speaking to journalists at the press conference held at the PMA House, Dr Abdul Ghaforo Shoro, secretary general of PMA-Centre, said the recent successive attacks and targeted killings of doctors and medical staff in Balochistan had shaken the entire medical community across the country.

“We are here to announce that doctors are not easy targets. Our job is to save people’s lives, not to lose our own,” he said.

Highlighting the recent killing of a senior paramedical staff member at the Tehsil Headquarter Hospital (THQ) in Usta Muhammad, Balochistan, Dr Shoro said that the cold-blooded killing of Shabbir Jamali at the hospital had come as a massive shock to the medical community.

To a question, Dr Shoro said Dr Mahnoor, who was severely injured in an acid attack at Civil Hospital, Quetta, was still under treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital.

“This brutal attack against a female doctor is an atrocity against humanity and a blatant proof of the incompetence of law enforcement agencies,” he said.

Dr Muhammad Shoaib, general secretary of PMA-Quetta, and Dr Fayyaz Mastoi, joint secretary, PMA Quetta, shared that the Balochistan government, instead of addressing their security concerns, had suspended 170 healthcare providers, including 70 doctors, who were protesting against the attack on Dr Mahnoor and demanding security measures.

The association demanded the immediate arrest of Jamali’s killers and the establishment of a judicial commission headed by a serving judge of the Balochistan High Court for an impartial investigation into Dr Mahnoor’s acid attack.

“All armed miscreants involved in the Usta Muhammad hospital firing must be arrested immediately, and a case must be run against them under the provisions of anti-terrorism laws.

“All government hospitals across the province and the country must be declared ‘safe zones’ immediately to enforce foolproof security, and the ‘Healthcare Security Act’ must be enacted into law immediately,” said Dr Shoro.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2026