GHA gives Heath Department ultimatum

KARACHI: Grand Health Alliance (GHA) has given 24 hours deadline to Sindh health department for restoration of health risk allowance otherwise health care workers will stage protest outside CM House.

 Spokesperson GHA Sindh said an important meeting was held to discuss the situation and after consultation it was decided to give 24 hours to  health department to issue notification. 

The protest of healthcare workers entered the 25th day in Sindh which increased the miseries of patients across the province.

The deadlock between Grand Health Alliance (GHA) and Sindh Health Department has continued over withdrawing health risk allowance which was being given to doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and other staff during COVID-19.

The doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and other staff under the banner of Grand Health Alliance(GHA) is holding protests across the Sindh province for the last 25 days and now protesters moved outside Sindh Secretariat for a protest.

Due to this protest, thousands of patients in the government hospitals of Karachi have been forced to return to homes without consultation while thousands of operations have also been postponed so far.

Diagnostic tests, MRI, CT scans, and medicines are not being provided to patients for almost a month which compelled poor patients to visit private laboratories and hospitals.

However, only emergency and ICU services are active in hospitals.

The major demands of Grand Health Allowance are restoration risk allowance and promotion of doctors, nurses, and paramedics.

Apart from this, another major demand was related to increasing vacancies for dentists, despite the fact that 5,000 dentists are unemployed while the Sindh government has not announced a single vacancy for dentists in the last 15 years.