LAHORE, June 17: Doctors on Friday observed a black day to press the government to accept their longstanding demands. They attended to patients while wearing black armbands on the appeal of the Pakistan Medical Association, Lahore.
The PMA is demanding that doctors should be appointed on regular service and those already serving on a contract should be regularized. It also called for regularizing the services of paramedics, including nurses.
It says the senior medical officers having postgraduate qualifications should be posted against vacant posts in teaching hospitals and specialist doctors posts in districts. It demands reduction in the fee being charged by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
The PMA demands that the health department should expedite the promotion cases of general and specialist cadre doctors. It also calls for the abolition of the Punjab Rural Support Programme.
Later, the PMA office-bearers led by president Prof Imtiaz Rasool met Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed in his Punjab Assembly chamber and discussed their demands.
The minister accepted that their demands were genuine and assured them that he would convey their concern to the chief minister.
Later, the PMA action committee held a meeting at the PMA House and decided to go ahead with its protest plan till the government take concrete steps to redress their grievances.
The committee agreed that the protest demonstration outside Lahore Press Club would be held on June 20 as scheduled.
According to a handout, the health minister said the doctors’ service structure would be reorganized and the services of those serving on contract basis would be regularized.
For the new service structure, he said, parameters were being finalized. The PMA office-bearers would also be invited in the meetings to be held regarding service structures of the doctors community.
He assured the PMA leaders of his full cooperation for rapid promotion of the community by amending existing rules and regulations. He lauded the contribution of PMA for the welfare of doctor’s community.
He said the health department would also seriously consider PMA’s recommendations for the steps to be taken for the welfare of doctors’ community. He also assured them that the government would take up the matter of reduction in fee with the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. The PMA delegation included general secretary Dr Azeemuddin Zahid, Dr Haq Nawaz Bharwana, Dr Faiz Rasool, Dr Ehsanur Rehman, Dr Shaukat Ali, Dr Afsar Ali Bhatti. Punjab parliamentary secretary Dr Farzana Nazir and Standing Committee on Health chairman Dr Muzaffar Ali Sheikh were also present.