Karachi: Private hospital outpatient departments, private clinics and routine diagnostic services remained closed in major cities across Pakistan on Wednesday as doctors observed a one-day strike against the Federal Board of Revenue’s proposed Point of Sale system and penalties under Section 175C of the Income Tax Ordinance.
The strike was called by the Pakistan Medical Association and supported by the Young Doctors Association, specialty medical societies and other health organisations, with doctors warning that they would announce an extended nationwide shutdown if their demands were not accepted within 10 days.
Government hospitals, including their outpatient departments, indoor wards and emergency services, remained open, while emergency rooms, intensive care units, cardiac care units and other life-saving services also continued to operate at private healthcare facilities.
Speaking at a press conference, PMA leaders Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro along with Prof. Dr. Tipu Sultan, Dr. Ismail, Dr. Mehboob and others said private OPDs and small clinics remained closed in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while doctors held rallies and demonstrations in several cities.
They claimed that the shutdown was observed in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Jamshoro and Tharparkar in Sindh.
In Punjab, the association said private OPDs and clinics remained closed in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Chakwal, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and Sialkot.
The PMA said private consultations were also suspended in Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad and Swat in KP, while clinics and private healthcare units were closed in Quetta, Sibi, Turbat, Khuzdar and other districts of Balochistan.
PMA office-bearers, including Dr Shoro, Dr Tipu, Dr Mehboob Noonari of the YDA, Dr Shahid Mamsa and Dr Ismail Memon, said doctors were not opposed to paying taxes but rejected what they called coercive implementation of the POS system in clinics and hospitals.
They said doctors had held two meetings with the FBR chairman and one with the federal finance minister in an attempt to resolve the matter through dialogue.
According to PMA leaders, the FBR had initially assured doctors that the POS requirement for private hospitals and clinics would be withdrawn, but later declined to honour the commitment.
They said doctors were being subjected to tax raids, forced installation of POS machines and penalties under Section 175C, adding that medical practice could not be treated in the same way as retail businesses.
“Healthcare is a professional and life-saving service, not a retail trade,” the PMA leaders said, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the POS requirement and an end to raids and harassment of healthcare professionals.
On the other hand, Pakistan Islamic Medical Association President Prof Atif Hafeez Siddiqui also backed the PMA’s demand, saying a clinic or hospital was not a supermarket selling fixed commodities because every patient required an individual medical assessment and treatment plan.
He said medical consultations involved sensitive personal information and warned that real-time invoicing could compromise doctor-patient confidentiality if patient data became accessible to non-medical officials.
Prof Siddiqui said doctors were among the country’s regular tax filers and supported taxation for national development, but maintained that major policies should be introduced gradually after consultation with stakeholders.
He said private clinics and hospitals were already regulated by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, provincial healthcare commissions and district health authorities, and imposing another non-medical oversight mechanism would create unnecessary pressure on the health sector.
The PMA announced that an All-Pakistan Doctors’ Convention would be held in Gujrat on October 11, bringing together representatives of the PMA, YDA, specialty colleges and medical associations from all provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The association said the convention would decide the next course of action. It warned that if the government and FBR did not address the doctors’ concerns before then, the convention could announce an extended and indefinite nationwide healthcare shutdown.