KARACHI: President Dr Arif Alvi has assured that the services and efforts rendered by healthcare professionals, including doctors, paramedics, nurses and medical scientists during the Covid-19 pandemic would be duly recognised, claimed Pakistani interventional gastroenterologist Dr Saad Khalid Niaz on Wednesday.
“Today I approached President Arif Alvi and apprised him that the healthcare professionals and workers have largely been ignored while announcing the Pakistan Civil Awards. President Arif Alvi, who is himself a dental surgeon, assured me that he would personally look into this matter and services of healthcare community during the Covid-19 pandemic would not be ignored,” Dr Saad said
Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi had announced the Pakistan Civil Awards for 126 meritorious people, including foreign nationals, in recognition of their services in different fields of life on August 14, 2021, but unfortunately, there were only two medical professionals in the list, whose names were forwarded from Sindh.
In protest, Dr Saad, who was also awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz announced to relinquish his civil award, adding, “If the healthcare professionals, workers and scientists who served tirelessly during the pandemic and even sacrificed their lives, were not honored, he would return his civil award back to the government.”
He maintained that over 200 healthcare professionals, including doctors, paramedics and nurses lost their lives during the last 18 months while serving Covid-19 patients but nobody cared to recognise their services for the country and the suffering humanity.
He maintained that civil awards should be conferred on deserving people, adding that there were no more deserving people than the infectious diseases experts, pulmonologists, medical scientists and technicians, who had risked their lives by working in highly critical environment and served when even Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were not available to them.
In addition, medical associations, including Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), have expressed solidarity with Dr Saad Khalid Niaz and other doctors, who announced to return their awards. The medical associations cautioned if services of healthcare community were continued to be ignored, it could lead to despair and disappointment among the healthcare professionals.
Talking to The News, PMA and PIMA office-bearers said hundreds of doctors, paramedic and nurses, medical professors, vice chancellors, lab technicians and researchers deserved recognition as they put their lives at stake to treat patients infected with Covid-19 but their selfless efforts were largely ignored by the authorities.
“We have lost over 250 healthcare professionals, mostly doctors while serving inside the Covid-19 wards and treating Covid positive patients. These healthcare professionals contracted the infection from their patients but they never refused to serve them. There were gynecologists who operated upon Covid-19 positive pregnant women to save their lives along with their babies while risking their own lives,” an office-bearer of the PMA said.
The medical associations urged the federal and provincial governments not only to announce civil awards for the Covid-19 heroes but also announce financial awards for the families of martyred healthcare workers.
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