lack of medical attention as doctors continued their strike on Saturday,
Express 24/7 reported.
A spokesperson of the Young Doctors Association announced that more than
a hundred doctors of the Punjab Institute of cardiology had resigned.
A Punjab government spokesperson said that striking doctors should
submit their resignations directly to the government and that their
resignations would be accepted today (Saturday).
Thousands of doctors across Punjab working at public hospitals have been
on strike since the provincial government failed to meet their demands
for better compensation. The strike is spearheaded by the Young Doctors
Association (YDA) of Punjab, which claims to have 8,000 members
participating in the strike. The doctors are demanding a minimum monthly
salary of Rs90,000 and regular employment contracts.
Police have arrested the president of YDA, and a heavy contingent of
police has been deployed outside the hospitals to avoid untoward situations.
Chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said the government had considered the
doctors’ demands and offered a substantial salary raise, so there was
no longer any justification for the strike.
Doctors have rejected the ultimatum given by the Punjab government to
discontinue the strike or face departmental action and be replaced by
retired and unemployed doctors. Punjab health secretary Fawad Hasan has
ordered principals of medical colleges and teaching hospitals to sack
doctors who do not resume their duties within 24 hours and make new
appointments on all vacant seats.
Young doctors in Lahore have closed indoor, outdoor and emergency
departments, refusing to work. Two senior doctors from Mayo hospital
Lahore have joined protesting juniors, pressing for fulfillment of
their colleagues’ demands.
Doctors and paramedics are also striking in Rahim Yar Khan.
Parliamentary leader Raja Riaz said the opposition will register a case
against Punjab government over the deceased patients who had been denied
medical care.
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