KARACHI: The Sindh government has rejected allegations of a lack of gender balance and merit in its decisions concerning the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and said that it remains committed to transparency, meritocracy and providing equitable healthcare services to all citizens.

Responding to a ‘comment’ piece written by two senior JPMC doctors, Iram Bokhari and Nazish Butt, headlined ‘The JPMC conundrum’, published in the Monday edition of Dawn, the health department, government of Sindh (GoS) states: “The writers’ claims lack factual basis and appear to undermine the substantial progress made by GoS in transforming JPMC into a world-class healthcare facility.”

Regarding the lack of gender balance, it said: “Out of the 30 departments at JPMC, 19 are headed by women, and two of the four previous Executive Directors were also women.”

It also clarified that the management agreement between the GoS and the federal government was finalised on Aug 8, 2023, not in 2022.

“To manage the expanded capacity at JPMC, GoS created 2,025 new contractual posts, including 563 FCPS-qualified doctors, 878 nurses, and 584 technicians. The 1,498 permanent employees remain unaffected by this arrangement, and their seniority and privileges are fully protected,” it added.

“Unfortunately, 19 out of the 1,498 permanent employees, including 14 doctors, have approached the courts on various issues. This litigation has disrupted the appointment of contractual staff, denying millions of patients’ access to quality healthcare and depriving young medical professionals of employment opportunities,” the health department said.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2025

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