KARACHI, April 25: Things returned to normal at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Thursday after the Doctors’ Association ended their three-day protest strike held in connection with the killing of Dr Amir Muavia.

A meeting of the JPMC Doctors Association held early in the morning decided to end the strike in the interest of the patients coming to the JPMC, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health.

The OPD’s at the three institutions resumed their function and a number of scheduled surgeries were performed. Patients visiting the hospitals were visibly relieved by the reopening of these institutes.

However, on Friday the doctors of all the teaching hospitals in Karachi will simultaneously suspend work at 11 a.m. for one hour and conduct rallies outside their respective institutions to demonstrate unity of purpose with the doctors of the JPMC.

The teaching hospitals participating in the demonstration are the NICVD, the NICH, the Dow Medical College the Civil Hospital, the Karachi Medical and Dental College, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the Aga Khan University Hospital, the Liaquat National Teaching Hospital, Ziauddin Medical University, Baqai Medical University, Hamdard Medical University and the Jinnah Medical University.

Director JPMC and office-bearers of the Doctors Association were invited on Thursday by Sindh governor, Mohammedmian Soomro, to the governor’s house, where higher police officials were also present. The governor presented a cheque of Rs200,000 for the widow of Dr Amir and assured that the Sindh government would make every effort to provide protection to doctors and check the killings.