Pakistani doctors in Saudi Arabia face contract termination

[LRE]

Pakistani doctors in Saudi Arabia face contract termination

* Write to prime minister asking for service extension

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The careers of hundreds of Pakistani doctors serving in Saudi Arabia on a deputation basis are threatened because authorities in Pakistan are not extending their period of service, a group of Pakistani doctors working in the city of Abha in the kingdom told Daily Times on Sunday.

The Pakistani government, they added, had promised that their deputation period would be extended because it wanted to strengthen ties with the Arab country and earn maximum foreign exchange through them. But no such extensions were now being given, they added.

Letter: The doctors said they have also written a letter to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani requesting him to solve the issue, which is largely associated with the Punjab Health Department as the majority of doctors in Saudi Arabia are employed by the Punjab government. The doctors from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Medical Association office-bearers also allege that the Health Department has extended the deputation period of only those doctors who have either bribed its officials or who are ‘favourites’ of the department.

The letter sent to the prime minister says hundreds of Pakistani doctors in Saudi Arabia are earning huge foreign exchange for their country. The majority of them are permanent employees of federal and provincial governments, it adds. These doctors are deputed to the Arab country on a yearly contract basis, but the Health Department has sacked many.

“The situation has put the doctors and their families under immense stress,” one doctor in Abha said. The doctors say there is no limit on the extension of their service period according to government rules “but terminating those who have served their country for many years, both in Pakistan and abroad, is like a punishment”. Dr Junaid, working in Saudi Arabia, said the doctors serving abroad should be considered a national asset, and that the government should reverse the phenomenon of brain drain into brain gain. He said it was sad that the government was terminating even the contracts of senior doctors.

“How can a doctor be encouraged to work for the government when he or she sees the plight of those already attached with it?” Dr Junaid said. Pakistan Medical Association leader Dr Azeemud Din Zahid said the association had raised the issue with the government several times but nothing had been done to address the situation. He alleged that the Health Department entertained only those doctors who had links with the previous government or who bribed department officials, and that the doctors were expecting the new government to address their grievances.

Punjab Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood said although he had noticed the issue recently, the government would do its utmost to address the grievances of doctors working on deputation. He said the government had already been focusing on the development of the health sector.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg7_23