 The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi is possibly the only institution that the Quaid-e-Azam allowed to be named after him during his lifetime. Originally a federal government employees hospital, the Quaid agreed to having it renamed on the condition that the hospital will be open to all. Since then, the JPMC, initially called the Jinnah Central Hospital, has served millions. Today, the JPMC sees over 5,000 persons daily in its OPDs, over a thousand daily in its emergency ward and on an average daily deals with over 50 delivery cases.
Earlier this year when I took my journalism class from Karachi University to JPMC, the initial reaction was that of shock. How could a hospital serve so many people and what kind of treatment could be given. However, after over a dozen interviews with patients and staff it emerged that instead of people being upset, they were happy with the services being provided. An CAT scan that may cost Rs30,000 at a private hospital costs Rs3,000 here and that too on the same machine. Similar are other charges. Students who initially made faces in the wards then turned around and said that in a country like Pakistan, the JPMC comes across as an island of hope – where some wards can be compared to the best private hospitals in the country.
Despite immense funding and staffing challenges, the JPMC struggles on. It has seen many highs in the past. It was once billed to a CENTO regional center of medical excellence. It has also been a sought after center for postgraduate medical personnel from all over the country owing to its strengths.
Affiliated to the JPMC is the Sindh Medical College, set up on the initiative of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and producing doctors ever since. Here JPMC medical staff were drafted in to teach and assist, but without the remuneration that was seen at other public medical schools.
More recently, the SMC became part of the Dow Medical University but there has been a concerted move to make SMC a university of its own. This has led to some problems as some feel that the college should take over the JPMC and not the other way round. In this effort, a couple of persons stand out. One of them is cardiologist Dr Javed Suleiman, currently the president of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA), a social welfare body.
Other parties are also interested in upgrading the SMC to a university. But last ditch efforts in the Sindh Assembly, prior to the previous government winding up, failed – and the issue remains unresolved. And for good reason, say others. In all this, there is another battle that is being raged and that is of devolution. While the JPMC, being a postgraduate medical centre and not a hospital, comes under the Federal Legislative List and not the Concurrent List where the devolution was effected, there continues to be a tug of war between the JPMC administration and the Sindh government over control of the entity. This matter is now subject to litigation with a court order restraining transfers or teaching arrangements.
All this has affected the working of the JPMC. Vested interests have started to strangle the JPMC so that their demands can be met. Staff has also been affected. Today out of 28 departments, only 9 have professors in them. Despite all the challenges, the JPMC continues to provide good and cheap medical care to thousands daily. And yet, the two persons who have been instrumental in steering the course in such turbulent times have now been let off as the stakes get higher. Earlier this month, JPMC Director Dr Tasnim Ahsan and Joint Director Dr Seemin Jamali were removed from their positions by the Sindh Chief Minister on the insistence of an almost unknown NGO called the Doctors Association on charges that are still to be specified. Prior to this both these brave women were threatened, harassed and then attacked by persons who want them to quit. And yet they did not bend under the pressure with the result that the powers that be have now changed tactics. Some say that at the bottom of this is the prime land on which JPMC stands. Over 75 acres in the centre of the city, of which already over a third has been encroached. The rest is now up for grabs. Justice anyone?
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2013. |
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