KARACHI, Sept 11: The Pakistan Medical Association has recommended raising minimum salary of house officers and stipend for postgraduate medical students to Rs10,000 per month.

Referring to the plight of junior doctors expected to perform duties for long hours, often under difficult working condition in face of growing cost of living, the PMA urged for a sympathetic attitude towards health care providers.

Vulnerability of junior doctors to varied infectious diseases due to poor hygienic condition and absence of any proper surveillance mechanism as well as little provision for mandatory protective gears and isolation wards was also highlighted by PMA office-bearers.

PMA Karachi Gen Secretary Dr S.M. Qaiser Sajjad, in a statement issued on Monday, also expressed his serious reservations with regard to poor working condition and subsequent exploitation of junior doctors at private hospitals and clinics.

He suggested increase in the number of slots for postgraduate trainees at government hospitals. He said that the seats should be increased from 500 to 700 at Dow University of Health Sciences, from 276 to 350 at Liaquat University of Health Sciences, from 40 to 70 at Chandka Medical College and from 60 to 90 at People’s Medical College, Nawabshah.

The government was further proposed to evolve a regular promotion mechanism for doctors pertaining to specialist cadre to counter the rampant trend of going abroad in search of greener pastures.

Dr Sajjad referred to his recent meeting with Sindh Health Secretary Prof Naushad Shaikh, who assured to make an initial raise of Rs1,000 in the stipend of FCPS-I trainees along with increase in the non-practicing allowance for them.

A 20 per cent increase in the seats for postgraduate medical students/trainees had also been assured in all four tertiary care hospitals in Sindh, he said.—APP