LAHORE: Multan Police identified 30-35 people, including the Nishtar Hospital staff, who were behind the alleged tampering with the record of the kidney patients who tested positive for HIV/AIDS. However, police lack the mandate to investigate the health professionals.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has come out in the support of the medics, including the Nishtar Medical University (NMU) VC, who were suspended for negligence that resulted in infections of dozens of kidney patients with HIV in the hospital.

Police completed the probe into the forged test reports of the patients on the directions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz when the HIV/AIDS scandal in the nephrology unit of the hospital came to the limelight.

An official told Dawn police would submit findings of the investigation to the health department for further action.

PMA comes out in support of ‘guilty’ medics, condemns govt for action

“We have no mandate to investigate the healthcare professionals held guilty of the HIV/AIDS outbreak in the Nishtar Hospital,” he said, adding that the Multan police probe was limited to the issue of patients’ records that were tampered with.

During the investigation, he said, police found that the private labs had tampered with the record of dialysis patients enrolled with the Nishtar Hospital and generated new backdated test reports to mislead the authorities. He revealed that a hospital employee was running a dialysis centre out of the government health facility and he had used in his private lab the test kits supplied officially to the Nisthar Hospital.

The police officer added that nearly 30-35 persons, including the hospital employees, were found involved in preparing bogus test reports of the dialysis patients who contracted HIV/AIDS due to negligence of the medics.

To a question, he said, the investigation was carried out under the supervision of an SSP.

The PMA condemned the government’s action against the NMU VC and other health professionals in the wake of the scandal.

Talking to the media at a press conference held on Monday, the PMA leaders declared the suspensions of the senior medics on the basis of an inquiry conducted by the fact-finding committee illegal, illogical and against the rules.

The reports suggested that the PMA came to the support of the guilty NMU senior faculty members and other doctors when a senior leader of the association from Multan was also held responsible for allegedly tampering with the record of the patients who carried HIV/AIDS during the dialysis in the hospital.

Talking to the media, PMA Lahore chapter president Prof Ashraf Nizami, Dr Kamran Saeed, Prof Shahid Malik, Dr Izhar Ahmad Chaudhry, Dr Iram Shahzadi and Dr Wajid suggested to the Punjab governor to reject the resignation submitted by NMU VC Mehnaz Khakwani.

Prof Nizami declared the action against the NMU VC and other health professionals a continuation of the departmental and police action against the senior doctors of the Sahiwal Medal College.

“The Punjab government initiated proceedings against the NMU woman VC at a time when the world was observing an international day for the elimination of violence against the woman,” the PMA leader said and added that the doctors would not tolerate humiliation of the health professionals and announced that a PMA delegation would meet PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to raise the matter.

Prof Nizami also raised questions over the findings of the inquiry committee, saying that it was half-baked, incomplete and full of anomalies. He declared the standard guidelines of the Punjab Aids Control Programme controversial regarding the time period of performing the AIDS tests of the dialysis patients.

The PMA leaders put the blame on the bureaucracy, including the health secretary, for mishandling the matter, saying that the CM was not properly informed by the inquiry committee and the health authorities about the facts behind the incident.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024