Thousand patients suffer as young doctors go on strike again in Sindh

KARACHI: Junior doctors in Sindh led by the Young Doctors Association (YDA) reverted back to protesting on Wednesday.Out Patient Departments (OPD) in various government hospitals remained closed in Sindh.The young doctors demand that their pay packages be similar to the salaries of doctors in Punjab. The YDA is also demanding an end to corrupt practices in provincial hospitals and an increase in health and other allowances.OPDs and operations theatres (OTs) at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Child Health (NICH), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Lyari General Hospital and other general hospitals remained shut along with those in several OPDs in Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Tando Jam and other districts of the province which brought suffering to the patients and delay in their treatment.Thousands of patients have been suffering and undergoing extreme difficulties in Hyderabad, Khairpur, Tharparkar, Nawabshah and other cities due to the protest called by these young doctors.The demands of the doctors is an increase in their salaries equivalent to other provinces, allowances and health insurance to the same levels as those offered to government doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.They said that the provincial government has failed to fulfill their promises.Earlier, a three-day strike of doctors and paramedics in Sindh’s government hospitals was ended following successful negotiations with the Sindh government.Sindh chief minister’s adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab had assured them of raising their salaries equivalent to those of doctors in Punjab.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2S0axtU