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Doctors continue strike for third day across Sindh

Doctors continue strike for third day across Sindh
January 30, 2019
KARACHI (92 News) – Young doctors continued their strike for third day across Sindh on Wednesday (today). Doctors are observing the strike for pay rise and other perks. They boycotted OPDs in government hospitals, creating problems for the poor patients. They continued their protest and boycott of out-patient departments (OPDs) at public hospitals across Sindh, adding to the miseries of patients visiting these hospitals for treatment. The government doctors have boycotted OPDs at almost all public hospitals in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Badin, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Dadu, Jamshoro and other small cities of the province. The protestors have announced to continue their protest until the Sindh government accepts their demands for bringing their salaries and allowances at par with their counterparts in Punjab. On the call of Young Doctors Association (YDA) Sindh, juniors have been on strike in the province for the last two days to have their demands accepted. A day earlier, the protesters refused to end their strike following the failure of their talks with Sindh’s health secretary. A delegation of the protesting doctors led by Dr Mehboob Ali held negotiations with the provincial health secretary. The meeting agreed upon fixing salaries of house officer and PG at Rs50,000 and 90,000 per month, respectively. The delegation stressed upon the secretary for immediate issuance of a notification about the demands that have been accepted by the Sindh government, whereas the secretary refused from doing so. Sindh YDA vice president Dr Waris said that they are on the strike under compulsion and it would continue till fulfillment of their demands. On the other hand, the DG Health Sindh said that it could not happen that salaries will be increased due to the strike. “There is a method to deal with a situation. Doctors have not yet contacted,” he said. Meanwhile, the poor patients are facing problems due to unavailability of doctors. They had to return to their homes empty handed. They appealed to doctors to adopt a method for their rights so that humanity should not suffer.