YDA, PMA give three-day ultimatum to Sindh govt to fulfill demands

KARACHI: Young Doctors Association (YDA) and Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have demanded of the Sindh government to conduct coronavirus screening of medics across the province, ARY NEWS reported.

In a joint handout released after a meeting of both the medical organisations, it was demanded of the Sindh government to fulfill their demands within three days.

It said that doctors serving at all government hospitals should be screened for the virus while a risk allowance should be approved for the doctors and paramedics serving during the pandemic.

“The doctors and other staffers will perform their duties tomorrow wearing black armbands in protest,” the joint statement read.

It also urged the government to return the amount withdrawn from their salaries in the name of coronavirus fund. “We will also present suggestions to the government regarding issues faced by medics due to coronavirus,” it said.

The bodies said that they support the government’s initiative to fight against the virus, however, the government should also support them.

The handout also demanded of the government to establish infection disease institutes and provide training to health professionals to deal with coronavirus.

It is pertinent to mention here that the doctors and paramedical staff members were becoming victims of coronavirus pandemic now while fighting the COVID-19 on front line.

The latest statistics showed an alarming figure of medics infected with the novel coronavirus while performing duties in different hospitals or came in contact with those performing duties in special isolation centres or laboratories.

It emerged that 17 staff members of Karachi’s Civil Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre tested positive for COVID-19. At least six doctors and seven paramedical staff members, whereas, a doctor and three paramedics performing duties in the emergency ward of Civil Hospital found infected with the virus.

In Karachi, the total count of coronavirus cases in medics reached 31 after the emergence of new cases. The overall figure includes two doctors and two paramedical staff from the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) of Karachi.