Balochistan doctors announce province-wide strike from November 1

Doctors across Balochistan will stop work from November 1, after the Pakistan Medical Association's provincial chapter announced its support for a province-wide strike against taxes it says the Federal Board of Revenue and the Balochistan Revenue Authority have imposed unfairly on medical practitioners.

The decision was taken at a joint meeting of several doctors' organisations, chaired by PMA Balochistan General Secretary Dr Zarak Muhammad Shahi, Dawn reported. Participants discussed the planned strike along with other issues concerning the provincial health department, the paper said.

ProPakistani, which also carried the announcement, reported that the PMA's Balochistan chapter had declared its "full support" for the walkout and that the action is directed at the taxes, which the association called unjust.

Neither report specified which services would be affected (whether outpatient departments, emergency wards, teaching hospitals or private clinics) or how long the strike would run beyond its November 1 start. No response from the Balochistan health department, the FBR or the BRA was reported by either outlet.

The FBR is the federal tax collection agency, while the Balochistan Revenue Authority handles provincial receipts. The PMA is a nationwide doctors' body with a chapter in each province.

Doctors' organisations in the province have raised the taxation of practitioners as a grievance before, and the joint meeting was called to coordinate the position of the various groups ahead of the strike date.

Dawn put its report from Quetta, the provincial capital, where the meeting was held.

What the strike will mean in practice for patients in a province where public health facilities are already thinly staffed was not spelled out in either report. The two outlets agreed on the November 1 start date, the two tax bodies named as the target of the protest, the name of the official who chaired the meeting and the fact that it was a joint gathering of several doctors' organisations.

This story will be updated if the provincial government, the FBR or the BRA responds, or if the association publishes details of the services it plans to suspend.