LAHORE: Officials of the Pakistan Medical Association on Friday said that the Punjab government is “continuously ignoring” genuine demands put forward by doctors, adding that the government recently announced a special salary package for police and the judiciary, but doctors have again been “ignored” and the “promises” made of a special pay package for them have not been fulfilled until now.

PMA office bearers said that the main reason for a shortage of qualified doctors in the province is the low salary package for doctors, ranging from Rs 18,000 to Rs 22,000 per month.

There is only one vascular surgeon (specialist in surgery of blood vessels), one rheumatologist (specialist of disease of joints) and only one professor of maxillofacial surgery available in the entire province, office-bearers of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) said on Friday.

The PMA and Young Doctors’ Association in a joint statement demanded the government announce a special salary package for the doctors, so that the doctors are not forced to go and work abroad.Daily times