Balochistan doctors announce province-wide strike from November 1 over taxes
File photo of a hospital in Quetta. This is not a photograph from the strike announcement.
QUETTA — The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Balochistan, has announced its full support for a province-wide doctors’ strike beginning November 1. The association says the taxes imposed on doctors by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Balochistan Revenue Authority (BRA) are unjust, and the strike is aimed at those taxes.
The decision was taken at a joint meeting of various doctors’ organisations, chaired by PMA General Secretary Dr Zarak Muhammad Shahi. The meeting also discussed other key issues concerning the provincial health department. What has not been spelled out yet is which services the November 1 strike will actually affect — whether outpatient departments, private clinics, or something wider. On that, the association’s further word is still awaited.
This did not come out of nowhere
The dispute between doctors and the tax authorities has been running for a month. In early October, doctors observed a one-day strike that closed private outpatient departments and chambers in major cities and districts across Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, with a demonstration outside the Bolan Medical Complex in Quetta. At the time, the PMA objected to point-of-sale requirements on medical practices and penalties under Section 175C, warning that taxing private hospitals, laboratories and clinics would push up the cost of treatment and leave the public to carry the burden.
Pressure is building nationally, too
A national deadline of November 1 was already set at the All Pakistan Medical Association convention in Gujrat, where doctors’ bodies warned of a phased nationwide shutdown if their demands went unmet. Taxation is only part of the dispute. The other grievances are the enforcement of healthcare regulations, the conduct of administrative officials during hospital visits, and the employment, training and professional rights of young doctors. In Balochistan there is one more complaint: an AI-based attendance system that doctors say does not match the province’s ground realities.
What it means for patients
For patients, the pressing question is what will stay open on November 1 and what will not. During the earlier one-day strike, emergency rooms, intensive care units and coronary care units at public hospitals kept running — but that is precedent, not a promise for this strike. Patients in Balochistan, especially those who travel long distances to Quetta for treatment, should watch for further clarification from the association and the health department before November 1.
