PMA demands Shahbaz Gill take back statement against doctors’ community

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has demanded former Punjab information minister Shahbaz Gill to take back his statement against the doctors’ community.

Earlier, on Thursday, accusing doctors of doing politics, Gill had claimed that PMA had held their press conference at the behest of the Sindh government.

He had said that the recent decisions regarding the countrywide COVID-19 strategy, which were criticised by doctors, were taken during a session of the National Command and Operations Centre where representatives of the doctors’ fraternity had also been present.

PMA on Friday in a statement said “We very honestly gave our professional opinion and requested the government and ulema to review their decision of holding Namaz- e- Jumah and Namaz-e-Traveh in mosques to help contain the pandemic.

“Being Medical Professionals it is our duty to inform the nation by portraying real picture of the situation. We also requested all the stakeholders and the general public to stay at home to avoid COVID-19,” the statement read.

Describing Gill’s statement as a serious issue, the PMA said that the former Punjab information minister had stated that the press conference was held only in Karachi when contrary to it, the PMA Lahore had also issued a similar warning to the government.

PMA requested Gill to take back his statement as it had injured the sentiments of the doctors’ community.

“PMA requests Mr. Shahbaz Gill to take back his statement because he hurt the doctors’ community at a time when they are fighting against coronavirus as frontline soldiers,” concluded the statement.

On April 22, Gill tweeted, “It is unfortunate that after the Sindh government got tired of doing politics over the coronavirus issue, it pushed doctors from Sindh forward.”

افسوس کی بات پی پی پی کی سندھ حکومت جب خود کرونا پر سیاست کر کر کے تھک گئی تو سندھ سے ڈاکٹروں کو سیاست کے لئیے آگے کر دیا۔جو فیصلے این سی سی میں ہوئے اس میں ڈاکٹر بھی موجود تھے۔ براہ مہربانی سندھ کہ ان چند سیاسی ڈاکٹروں سے گزارش ہے کہ آپ سیاست نہ کریں اس کے لئیے سندھ حکومت ہے ناں

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) April 22, 2020

Earlier, Pakistan Doctors’ Association had demanded the government to impose strict lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, they said that introducing relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown will cause a spike in the coronavirus cases in the country.

They said that the authorities should take responsibility and ban all kinds of congregational prayers otherwise the virus could spread in the next two weeks rapidly.

Pakistan Medical Association Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad had regretted that the severe COVID-19 lockdown in Sindh province, which was imposed by the provincial authorities successfully earlier, had “now become a joke just like in the rest of the country”.