Lahore High Court asked to end young doctors’ strike

The Lahore High Court was petitioned on Friday to put an end to the young doctors’ strike.

Lawyer and human rights activist Mohammad Azhar Siddiqui, who made the appeal, said that the disagreements between the Punjab government and young doctors were putting patients in a difficult position. “The patients suffer the most in this scenario.”

He said that by going on these strikes doctors were violating their Hippocratic Oath [an oath of ethics historically taken by doctors]. “Under no circumstances should doctors ever refuse to treat patients,” the lawyer added.

Siddiqui requested the court to bring an end to these strikes and take strict actions against the doctors.

Young doctors have been on a strike against new government reforms across public hospitals in Punjab. They have shut down OPDs, wards, laboratories and operation theatres at government teaching hospitals in some cities across the province. Nurses and paramedics are also part of the strike.

Their protest is against the new Medical Teaching Institution Reforms Ordinance the PTI government plans to introduce in public hospitals.