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I am Dr. Shahzad Hussain. I am a post graduate student of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Nishtar Institute of Dentistry, Multan. The purpose of this letter is to just elaborate the genuine demands of the doctors. I would just explain it in simple words so that I can explain it on the level of a non-medical person.
First of all, it is a truth that the students who get the maximum marks are inducted in the Medical profession and in a country like Pakistan, the utmost desire of the parents is that their child is either a doctor or engineer and that shows in the intermediate level exam when merit reaches up to 90-95 % marks.
Then they go through a tough exam system for 5-6 years and believe me, every year is much more challenging than the previous one. So finally, when they become doctors, the period of house job begins. This is basically like an internship in any other field to get the practical experience. Here I would like to mention that the students of medical profession spend these years mostly in the hostels and very few are lucky enough to get admission into the native city.
In the house job, we are trained in the real life scenarios. We see patients dying in front of our eyes due to unavailability of the medicines. We examine 2,2 patients of different disease on the same bed. We see patients getting contaminated disease from the other patients because they were on the same beds. We see our colleagues working unpaid. We, on regular basis, face the threats from patients’ attendants.
Keep it all aside. Let me keep it simple and explain the demands of the doctors. Keep in mind that actions like the report to seniors for these issues, letters to the health ministry, to the administration, to the CM, strikes in off times or black strips have been done before the final call of strike. All that is not in the mainstream media because our system is like that only violence and activities like that get the attention.
So our demands are.
1. Appoint A Medical Specialist As Our Health Secretary:
Like every profession in the world, head of the department is a person who is a specialist of the profession, a banker in the bank, a researcher at the university, a business man is the head of a business community. It is because he/she understands the needs and technical points of the field. But this is not the case in our system. Yes, you read it right. Health secretary, the person responsible for all the affairs of the doctors is an engineer, electrical engineer. SO we are demanding from the last almost one year to appoint a medical specialist as health secretary.
2. One Bed For One Patient:
We are demanding one bed for one patient. From the last many years, in all ways, we have tried to convince the authorities but in vain.
3. Security For The Doctors:
We are demanding security for the doctors who go to DHQ, THQs and RHC and basic health units. Isn’t it the right of a girl who goes far from her house to a basic health unit to feel secure at the hospital? How frequently some illiterates come to the hospital and harasses a doctor or lady doctors because his patient suffered due to the lack of facilities. Rather than improving the system and upgrading the basic health facilities, govt. just have planned how to send the doctors to the peripheries. What a doctor will do at the peripheries in the absence of the facilities is the question, no one can answer.
4. Completion Of Pending Hospital Projects:
We want the government to complete the pending hospital projects. Believe me, there are projects which have not been completed in 10-12 years.
5. Doctors Can’t Even Choose The Area Of Work And Specialization By Their Own:
As per the policy of the central induction, the doctors are forbidden from choosing the specialty of the choice, even the city of the choice and even if still he/she goes to the hospital of the lucky draw, what are the facilities there for him/her? Keep in mind that he/she is a 25-26-year-old doctor. And you better know it’s the peak time of one’s life to start career, family and take responsibilities. And here he/she is sent to a specialty which is not of his/her choice and city of not his/her choice, hospital of not his/her choice.
And what he/she is going to get. A bad name in the community if he/she demands basic rights, harassment from attendants if the patient suffers because of lack of facilities and all this without pay for a year or two. The government claims that it has ended the unpaid or honorary post graduation. But you can check the records. 26 out of 65 doctors are doing unpaid post graduation from the last 6 months in my institute. You can imagine how many would be working like this in whole Punjab. And keep in mind these all are those lucky and cream of the nation students who got a seat to be doctors and who are seen as rich and ruthless by the community at large due to the negative image that has been created by the government.
So, these are few main points I discussed here in my this letter. There are many, more issues and all of these are reported again and again but the Sharif government has other priorities. Health has never been the priority and that’s why an electrical engineer Mr. Najam Shah with a bad repute of failed solar power plant(Quaid e Azam Solar Power Plan) is the health secretary.
And let me tell you what, all these policies are forcing the doctors to leave. Doctors are respected everywhere in the world and Pakistan is a country which spends a huge amount on the education of doctors but not keeping those doctors in Pakistan because of these policies. Ultimately, they leave the county and moved to abroad where they, at least, get a paid job. Kindly spread the positivity. Issues need to be solved. And I hope you would spread this positivity and show the real cause of strike of doctors.
