Thursday, May 7, 2020
KPK doctors demand end to privatization of healthcare facilities, seek provosion of automated coronovirus testing machines to medical staff, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
The demand was made through a joint resolution passed during a meeting presided over by Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari through video link attended by the Party office-bearers of of KPK and different health professional organizations of the province.
Humayun Khan, Faisal Karim Kundi, Rubina Khalid, Dr Nisar Khan and Dr Dawood also participated in the video link meeting. Provincial Doctors Association of KPK President, Dr Zubair, General Secretary Dr Alamgir and Dr Abdul Manan participated in the discussion through te-video meeting.
Young Doctors Association (YDA) President Dr Rizwan and General Secretary Dr Asfandyar Bhitani, Dr Faisal Barakzai, Dr Alamgir Yousafzai, Dr Rodar Shah, Kausar Niaz and Maryam Ambreen also participated.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told the meeting that there can never be any compromise on protection of front line workers and directedthe PPP Coronavirus Relief Committee to provide protective clothing to doctors in KPK as much as possible.
He said that PPP opposes privatisation of hospitals in KP as well as across the country pointing out that the private healthcare system has failed worldwide after COVID-19 pandemic. “Now it is the responsibility of the federation to help the provinces increase the testing capacity of the coronavirus as in case the doctors at hospitals continue to go in isolation, it will have negative impact on health sector,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that a welfare state can never subscribe to the narrative that economy is more important than the lives of the people.
During the meeting a joint resolution was passed by PPP and the doctors and paramedical organizations which unanimously demanded a full-time Health Minister in KPK.
The resolution demanded that the Martyrs’ Package should be given to medical personnel who died of coronavirus in KPK. It pointed out that there was zero level lockdown in KP from day one adding that the lockdown should be implemented in letter and spirit instead of easing it.
The resolution expressed concern that the PTI government fights doctors instead of fighting coronavirus crisis. It said that KPK Health Task Force chief Nowsherawan Burki can’t be successful in his attempt to run the provincial set-up through Skype from the United States of America, demanding his immediate removal declaring him the root cause of destruction of health system in KPK.
The resolution further demanded that 3000 nurses be hired in KPK to fill the gap and those already in service should immediately be regularised while the medical doctors in KPK should also be given risk allowance as the Sindh government has started in the province.
The resolution pointed out that the KPK has the lowest number of tests facilities and rampant deaths from Coronavirus are a matter of serious concern demanding that the automated testing machines should be provided in coronavirus testing laboratories.
Joint resolution also demanded that the privatisation of healthcare facilities in KPK should immediately be stopped.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/05/07/kpk-doctors-demand-end-to-privatization-of-healthcare-facilities-seek-provosion-of-automated-coronovirus-testing-machines-to-medical-staff-chairman-ppp-bilawal-bhutto-zardari/
#Pakistan: Authorities Must Be Transparent About #Covid_19 Cases in Prisons
Pakistani authorities must ensure greater transparency about the number of COVID-19 cases in the country’s prisons, and the volume of testing being done in prisons nationwide, Amnesty International said today.
After the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Camp Jail, Lahore on 20 March, official numbers confirmed on 21 April that at least 97 prisoners nationwide had contracted the virus. 59 of them were in Lahore, nine in Dera Gazi Khan, seven in Gujranwala, three in Jhelum, three in Bhakkar, and one each in Hafizabad, Kasur and Faisalabad.
However, this number was dropped to 86 infected prisoners, without any explanation on 26 April.
There has been no reporting of the number of COVID-19 cases in prisons ever since, nor have authorities disclosed any fatalities that may have resulted or the number of prisoners who recovered.
Given the extremely contagious nature of the disease and massive overcrowding, it is highly likely that more prisoners have contracted the virus than official figures suggest.
Given the likelihood that there is a significant number of undiagnosed and unreported cases, it is cause for serious concern if authorities have halted testing or are failing to disclose the number of cases in prisons.
“As tempting as it is to believe that the virus has been contained so effectively in prisons across Pakistan, unfortunately, we believe the reality shows a different picture. Given the likelihood that there is a significant number of undiagnosed and unreported cases, it is cause for serious concern if authorities have halted testing or are failing to disclose the number of cases in prisons,” said Rimmel Mohydin, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International.
Protective measures in prison must be implemented
In March 2020, the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab announced measures such as early release and testing in prisons. The Islamabad High Court also issued directives to immediately release vulnerable and pre-trial or remand detainees. However, on 30 March, the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended all orders granting bail, stating that a suo motu (a decision made by a judge at their own discretion, without the prompting of another party) could only be issued by the highest court in the country, and not the Islamabad High Court.
Given that the Supreme Court has blocked attempts to reduce the prison population, it is the government’s duty of care towards inmates that all reasonable protective measures are taken.
The conditions in Pakistan’s prisons – which are often overcrowded, unsanitary and under resourced – serve to increase the chances of a COVID-19 outbreak, making access to testing even more urgent.
However, no information about the number of tests in Pakistani prisons has been made public, save for the 512 tests that were conducted in Camp Jail, Lahore.
“While testing has been a challenge for many countries, it is critical to ensure that healthcare is just as available to prisoners as it would be to the community at large – including in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. If prison populations cannot be reduced, then authorities must ensure that the necessary measures are in place to protect them,” said Rimmel Mohydin.
Background
Pakistani authorities must ensure that all people affected by the coronavirus have access to adequate health care, including those detained in prisons.
The right to health is guaranteed under several human rights treaties. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) includes the “prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases” as a part of the right to health. In the context of a spreading epidemic, this includes the obligation on states to ensure that preventive care, goods, services and information are available and accessible to all persons.
Under the right to health, health care goods, facilities and services should be available in sufficient quantity within the state; accessible to everyone without discrimination; respectful of medical ethics and culturally appropriate; and scientifically and medically appropriate and of good quality. To be considered “accessible”, these goods and services must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population; within safe physical reach for all sections of the population; and affordable for all. The right also includes the accessibility of health-related information.
In Imran Khan’s Naya #Pakistan, a minority commission without minority
NAILA INAYAT
Imran Khan’s attacks on India over its treatment of the Muslim minority stand blunted, considering his own govt’s poor track record on minorities in Pakistan.
Aminority commission without a ‘minority’ is what Pakistan is promising its minorities.
Every turn the government of Imran Khan takes regarding the welfare of the Ahmadiyya community ends up in a U-turn. After all, there is nothing new in Naya Pakistan when it comes to protecting the beleaguered Ahmadis.
The latest controversy involving the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government began with the cabinet deciding to include the Ahmadis in the National Commission for Minorities. All hell broke loose by the mere mention of their representation. Within hours, a vile campaign against the community started on social media, labelling Qadianis as traitors, calling them the worst infidels in this world.
The hate campaign
Joining this hate chorus, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Ali Muhammad Khan tweeted: Beheading is the only punishment for those who mock Prophet Mohammad. Ali Muhammad is the same politician who vehemently opposed the child marriage bill last year, telling a Hindu legislator that he had no right to present an anti-Islam bill.
Meanwhile, PTI’s coalition partner Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain showed his disdain, saying the government was opening a Pandora’s box by suggesting that the Ahmadis become part of a minority body when they don’t consider themselves as minorities.
Two voices from within the government, and a troll army on social media were enough for the religious affairs minister Noorul Haq Qadri to shun the “rumours” that the PTI government had made any suggestion to include Ahmadis in the National Commission for Minorities.
The formation of this commission hasn’t pleased other Pakistani minority groups either. They are urging Imran Khan to constitute this body under an Act of Parliament, rather than with cabinet notifications. The demand is to establish something on the lines of the minority commission in India, which was formed after the Liaquat-Nehru Pact of 1950 between Pakistan and India for protection of rights of minorities in both these countries. In 2014 then chief justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, mandated the government to constitute a taskforce to safeguard the rights of minorities. But to no avail. There are apprehensions that this new commission proposed by the Imran Khan government will be an ineffective body with little or no powers.
PTI, the master of U-turns
Why does the PTI government always start something that it can’t complete?
This is a Déjà Vu for the government. Succumbing under the pressure of religious groups is nothing new for the PTI.
In September 2018, soon after he came to power, Imran Khan removed renowned economist Atif Mian from his economic advisory board because of his Ahmadi faith. In 2014, Khan had revered Mian as one of the top 25 economists in the world. He had gone on to name him as his future finance minister. But when Khan was questioned on Mian’s faith and his stand on the finality of the prophethood, the prime minister made a U-turn.
It is criminal how successive governments in Pakistan have failed the religious minorities by surrendering to the pressure groups at the drop of a hat, starting from the time when Ahmadi Muslims were declared a minority by the government of Zufliqar Ali Bhutto through the second amendment in 1973. The decades following this move saw the worst kind of persecution of the Ahmadis. Now under articles 298(b) and 298(c) of the Penal Code Ahmadis preaching or professing their beliefs could go to jail, could be booked under blasphemy and the discrimination at the societal level knows no bounds. Even the mosques of the community and their graveyards have been targeted. All this under the patronage of the state of Pakistan.
Defining minority in Pakistan
To suggest that “non-inclusion of any Ahmadi in the commission is because they do not fall in the definition of minorities” is laughable. What definition do they fall in? Pakistan itself declared Ahmadis non-Muslims. Now, if Ahmadis are not minorities then what social contract do they have with the state of Pakistan? Does Pakistan consider its Ahmadis citizens even human?
The issue of Khatam-e-Nabuwat or finality of the Prophet is a handy political tool. Every political party has used it as a weapon against the other when in opposition and the tables turn when the party is in government. Just the way Imran Khan exploited the ‘change of oath’ issue against PMLN government during the 2017 sit-in of Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Rizvi had then accused the government of committing blasphemy by changing the words of candidate election oath from ‘I solemnly swear’ to ‘I believe’.
The vicious cycle goes on. And the only casualties are the persecuted Ahmadis, and not any political party.
In its annual report the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom again identified Pakistan among the Countries of Particular Concern. The body noted that the religious freedom conditions across Pakistan continued to trend negatively. The systematic enforcement of blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws, and authorities’ failure to address forced conversions of religious minorities—including Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs—to Islam, severely restricted freedom of religion or belief.
Imran Khan’s attacks on India over its treatment of the Muslim minority now stand blunted with his own government’s poor track record on minorities in Pakistan. Can he get his minorities to be considered a minority first, please? Fighting for their rights shall come later.
Whenever incidents of violence against Muslims in India are reported, some Pakistanis want to “thank Jinnah for saving them”. Wish the Ahmadis who played a pivotal role in building Pakistan could one day thank Jinnah too.
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