PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has invoked West Pakistan Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1958 for three months in an effort to ensure presence of staff at hospitals amid the continuing province-wide strike of doctors against the enforcement of Regional and District Health Authorities Act, 2019.

The spokesperson for Grand Health Alliance, Dr Hazrat Akbar, said they were undeterred by such warnings. He said that apart from the strike in public sector hospitals, doctors would stop the institution-based practice and close private clinics from Monday.

“We are giving 48-hour deadline to the government to release our 17 colleagues, including 14 doctors and three paramedics detained under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance for a month. If they are not set free, then we would hold another meeting after two days in which we will decide further line of action,” he added.

Protesting doctors threaten to stop institution-based practice, close private clinics

A notification, issued by the chief secretary, directed all employees imparting administrative, curative, rehabilitative, preventive, promotive and supportive services partially or fully funded from the national exchequer or under direct or indirect control of the government that they should not depart or leave their place of duty without prior permission of the competent authority.

The notification said that they should not abandon or discontinue their official duties in the best public interest for a period of three months.

Any person found violating that order would be subject to criminal prosecution under the West Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1958, it said.

The health professionals at government hospitals have been on strike since Friday.

The protest was initially planned for one-day to hold sit-in near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly against the passage of RDHA, 2019 but police baton charged the protesters near Lady Reading Hospital, injuring several of them and arresting their leaders.

The GHA spokesperson said that they would not budge an inch from their demands regarding registration of FIRs against Dr Nausherwan Burki, Health Minister Hisham Inamullah Khan and SSP Zahoor Afridi for taking action against the peaceful protesters, many of whom were still being treated for wounds they sustained on Friday.

He said that they had formed committees to convince the doctors to shut their private clinics and those not doing so, would lose their membership of the association.

“During the strike, not only services will remain suspended completely throughout the province but we would be blocking roads everywhere to send a message that we want the government to reverse the laws aiming to privatise the hospitals,” said Dr Hazrat.

He said that they would not provide anti-polio, anti-dengue and other services to people from Monday. “We can also withdraw the emergency services if the government does not release our arrested colleagues,” he added.

The GHA spokesperson said that police were raiding hostels and emergency wards to arrest the health workers.

However, he vowed to press ahead with the programme of protest till their demands were met.

He said that the government’s arbitrary decisions would deteriorate patients’ care instead of any improvement because provoking medics was meant to send them on strike that would deprive people of healthcare services.

Meanwhile, the health department is adamant to talk to the GHA representatives, most of whom have gone into hiding to escape arrests.

GHA leader Dr Salim Yousafzai said that the arrested health professionals were being mistreated in Mardan jail and they were denied the right to register complaints against police.

He said that police were not registering FIRs of the injured people. “It is illegal and unwarranted,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019