No salaries for doctors in hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pak: Reports

Pakistan: The hospitals in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region has been going through a rough patch as discussion have been held over the conditions of contracts of hospitals due to which the health department has refused to provide financial resources and, as a result of which the doctors and staff are not provided with their salaries, reported Daily Pakistan Edit.

According to the update, due to the cuts in resources, non-payments of salaries have also been putting negative impacts on a large number of paramedics.

Around 19 government hospitals were handed over by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under contract to various NGOs, after which the medical staff and doctors were hired, said reports.

Furthermore, after the settlement of the caretaker government, the health department pulled back from providing resources and other essential equipment, which affected the salaries of the staff and doctors.

“The situation should be reviewed and resolved by the caretaker government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region through taking necessary steps,” said Daily Pakistan Edit reports.

The reports also confirmed that the distribution of free medicines for cancer patients in Pakistan had also been closed, which was also discussed among the authorities, reported Pakistan vernacular media Naibatt Edit. In addition, cancer patients now face a shortage of free medicines for their treatment; news reports raised the concern.

Moreover, the deteriorating healthcare infrastructure has been another victim of the ongoing financial crisis in Pakistan, due to which patients are not receiving appropriate treatments and essential medical care.

The imports in Pakistan have also been a national issue as the nation’s forex reserves are empty and unable to fulfil medical supplies requirements along with Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) used in domestic production.

Such shortage of available pharmaceutical ingredients resulted in manufacturers cutting off their products, making the patients suffer in the health care centre of the nation.

In addition to this, reports stated that medical staff and doctors are forced to stop surgical procedures due to drug shortages and equipment limitations.

There are less than two weeks of stock of anaesthetics left in the operation theatres, which is an essential part of critical surgeries related to the heart, cancer and kidneys. The jobs are under threat while increasing tension in the environment of Pakistan, noted media reports.

Notably, the intervention of the Pakistan government has been called by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) to prevent the overall crisis and save the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.

However, the authorities are still assessing the shortage amount rather than taking essential and immediate steps to improve the situation, as per the reports.