LAHORE, Oct 28: Fatima Jinnah Medical College and Ganga Ram Hospital board of governors (BoG) chairman Prof Dr Mahmood Ali Malik says the government has no justification to stay in power if it is unable to provide free education and healthcare to people.

Prof Malik was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony to re-establish the accident and emergency department at the Ganga Ram Hospital on Monday.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool earlier laid the foundation stone.

Prof Malik termed the governor’s information “limited”, saying he was briefed by those who called doctors as “merchant doctors” and hospitals as “dens of adultery”. “His advisers also consider senior teachers as incompetent.” This was a wrong approach, he added.

He said those who raised insulting slogans were themselves the production of this system and perhaps also merchant doctors. He said most doctors worked in accordance with their professional ethics. The black sheep existed in every profession and community, he added. He said the black sheep should be tackled individually rather than criticizing the whole community and injuring the self-respect of everyone.

Prof Malik also criticized the establishment of the University of Health Sciences (UHS), saying the concept of medical university existed nowhere in the developed world. He said the US and the UK treated medical education as a department of a general university. Citing an example, he said, there were 16 medical colleges in London and all were affiliated with the London University. Similarly, he said, all medical schools in the US were also affiliated with general universities.

“Now in the Fourth World, the institutions are being established on personal whims,” he said.

He, however, accepted that the UHS now was a reality and urged the governor that the government should give its control to genuine professionals instead of handing it over to the politicians and bureaucrats. He also urged the governor that the government should allow the old and reputed institutions to decide whether they wanted to affiliate themselves with the new medical university or wanted to retain their affiliation with the Punjab University. “The public medical colleges should not be pressured to seek affiliation from the UHS,” he added. “If this option needs an amendment to the UHS Ordinance 2002, please do amend it,” he said. He also urged the governor to also listen to those who had opinion different from the establishment.

Prof Malik said the rulers had also started saying under the influence of the IMF, World Bank and other donor agencies that education and health were not the responsibilities of the state. He said it was the responsibility of the state to fulfil the basic needs of every citizen of the country.

Only a couple of decades ago, he said, the Mayo Hospital used to give free medicines, meals, hospital dress and nursing and medical care to patients. He said the bed-strength of the hospital was same but now patients were being denied medicines, food and now the government was also considering to levy user-charges on diagnostic tests.

He asked the government to give more funds to the hospitals so that the patients, majority of whom were living below the poverty line, should be given free healthcare facilities.

Prof Malik also urged the governor to help recover land and properties donated to the Ganga Ram Hospital in different parts of the city. He said even the land donated by prostitutes had been occupied by different qabza groups, who were not even willing to pay the rent. He said the Evacuee Property Trust Board had also grabbed hospital’s property in different parts of the city, which had been offered to capitalists on a nominal rent.

He also urged the governor to help remove encroachments from outside the hospital as the district government had failed to do so. He said the hospital management was facing severe problems while shifting serious patients from its accident and emergency department to its other departments situated within the hospital campus across the road. He said the shifting of the emergency department could not be made possible earlier but now the FJMC/GRH BoG approval made its way to shift the department inside the hospital. He said the hospital with the approval of the BoG would also collect donations to undertake its development.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor Maqbool did not comment on the questions raised by Prof Malik and opted to reiterate the government policies and steps taken to improve the health sector.

He said despite heavy odds poor were still getting treatment in hospitals. He said the problems were increasing which required bold decisions by the government to save hospitals from turning into haunted buildings.

He said the government had strengthened the immunization system, recruited doctors at BHUs and RHCs and specialist doctors at district headquarters hospitals at higher pay packages. He said house physicians, medical officers and FCPS-II students were also given paid jobs. He said 5,000 paramedical staff was also recruited by the hospitals.

He said the government also gave additional Rs20 million to each teaching hospital for the purchase of medicines besides grants for the repair and purchase of electro-medical equipment. He said the government wanted that teaching and healthcare facilities in colleges and hospitals should improve which was pinching a few.

The governor directed the Planning and Development Board chairman to prepare the scheme of the 400-bed Fatima Jinnah Block of the Ganga Ram Hospital and get it approved in one week.

He also ordered filling of vacant promotion posts in FJMC/GRH in the next Provincial Selection Board meeting.