ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has announced that it would hold a nationwide strike and closure of medical facilities on Sept 30 to protest against the policies of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), with private healthcare providers across the country joining the protest.

“The medical community strongly rejects the FBR’s arbitrary reclassification of healthcare services as retail sales and the forced imposition of Point of Sale (POS) systems on private hospitals,” said PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro.

“Healthcare providers serve the nation by treating patients; they do not sell commercial commodities. Private hospitals, which currently cater to over 70 per cent of the country’s healthcare needs, are already fulfilling their civic and legal duty by paying regular income tax,” he added.

“Despite these contributions, the private healthcare sector faces unprecedented operational hurdles due to heavy fines, aggressive raids on private hospital premises, and persistent systemic harassment by tax authorities. These heavy-handed tactics have made running medical institutions in Pakistan increasingly unviable.”

Dr Shoro contended that healthcare was a vital public service, not retail trade.

“The FBR and the government must immediately cease these hostile tactics against healthcare providers. If these continuous acts of injustice and harassment do not stop, the medical community will be forced to discontinue all healthcare services nationwide for an indefinite period,” he added.

He said that following extensive leadership meetings across all provinces, the PMA had reached full consensus to execute the nationwide strike, with all medical establishments across the provinces instructed to shut down completely on Sept 30.

The PMA has demanded that the federal government and the FBR “withdraw the POS requirement, eliminate fines, cease hospital raids and respect the essential role of medical professionals serving the nation”.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026