PESHAWAR, Feb 20: In the absence of an effective organization of doctors, the medical community in Frontier is finding it hard to cope with the situation emanating from the government’s decision to ban their private practice, some senior doctors told Dawn.

“In the absence of a strong representative body, we feel in very awkward position to pursue our case,” said a professor at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. According to him, a few years back, the government banned Pakistan Doctors Association (PDA), the representative organization of the 5,000 doctors of the province. Now, the doctors have  no alternative forum to press the government to bring it to negotiation table, the doctor said.

“Time is running out and the deadline set by the government to wind up the private clinics is closing in but still we are undecided about our future,” he remarked. He said there was a fear among the doctors that once the decision was imposed, there would be no withdrawal by the government.

The provincial government has issued directives  on Feb 12, banning private practice of government- employed doctors across the province. To enable the doctors to wind up their private clinics, a period of 15 days has been allowed, after which disciplinary action will be taken under the NWFP Civil Servant Removal From Service (Special Power Ordinance, 2000) against those not complying with the new directives.

Many senior consultants told Dawn that Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), which has now launched struggle on behalf of the doctors, was non-elected and non-representative body and to expect something extraordinary from it, would tantamount to seek relief from a wrong source.

“It is a toothless body and has no roots among the doctors community, therefore, we don’t think that it would deliver as far as this issue is concerned,” said a surgeon. He was also critical of the role played by the PDA but was not happy with PMA either saying that the latter was no match to the former.

The PDA came into being in early 1980s, put up tough resistance to block the Mehtab-led government’s decision to introduce  Health Reforms Bill and pave way for  the privatization of public sector hospitals. Opposing this, the PDA launched a prolonged and unrelenting struggle against the government’s decision.

To prevent the PDA from strikes and protests, the government came very hard on the doctors and scores of them were arrested. Not only that but the PDA was also disbanded in October 1998. The PDA has now become the story of the past.

This decision was long overdue and the government was looking for an opportune time to ban the practice of government-employed doctors, a doctor said, adding that the government first banned the PDA and then started institutional private practice in order to preempt any effective protest by the doctors. In the process, three of its activists — one sitting president, one former president and another activist — were terminated from services.

They are still running from pillar to post to get themselves reinstated. By doing so, the government has removed hindrances in the way of implementing its decisions.

“Now, the government is free to implement any decision because there is no one to offer resistance,” another doctor said. According to him, the PDA had been converted into political organization but still it was better to protect the rights of doctors. Had the PDA been in place it would have taken up the case of doctors.