Karachi [Pakistan], September 14 : Medical professional bodies in Sindh have launched a scathing critique of the provincial administration, accusing authorities of establishing a flawed parallel healthcare network by transferring all remaining basic health units across the region to the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative, according to Dawn.
Healthcare personnel across various districts have staged demonstrations against the sweeping transfer, denouncing the measure as an immediate peril to their professional stability.
"We strongly oppose this move and plan to hold a press conference on this issue soon," stated Dr Farrukh Rauf of the Young Doctors Association Sindh, asserting that authorities have systematically eroded career avenues for medical practitioners by shifting public facilities to an external body, as noted by Dawn.
"Each BHU has seats for healthcare providers including doctors. The government has done grave injustice by privatising the healthcare system," Dr Rauf claimed.
Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro of the Pakistan Medical Association Centre underscored that his organisation has formally registered profound objections, pointing out that public healthcare standards have suffered under non-medical leadership, Dawn stated.
"The PPHI has been running the health facilities poorly and that, too, under the leadership of non-medical personnel at the provincial and district levels," Dr Shoro remarked.
He further stressed that primary care forms the foundational backbone for vulnerable populations, criticising officials for executing unilateral bureaucratic decrees without engaging key medical leadership.
"Primary healthcare is the backbone of the medical delivery system, serving the most vulnerable segments of society. Decisions of this magnitude should not be taken in isolation through bureaucratic directives without taking key stakeholders, including the medical leadership and representative bodies, into confidence," Dr Shoro emphasised, per Dawn.
Questioning the justification behind sidelining established public medical infrastructure, representatives demanded transparent evaluations of the initiative's operational track record over its two-decade existence.
"The PPHI Sindh has been operational for around two decades and already manages an extensive network of government health facilities across the province. We want to ask whether the PPHI has brought about any improvement in health indicators," Dr Shoro questioned, as cited by Dawn.
Historical records indicate the provincial health ministry progressively assigned roughly 1,400 basic health units to the initiative over the past twenty years, culminating in the recent transfer of the final batch exceeding 700 units.
In sharp defence of the policy, a health ministry spokesperson dismissed allegations of asset privatisation as wholly erroneous.
"The claims that BHUs are being privatised as entirely incorrect and misleading," the spokesperson maintained, adding, "The PPHI is already managing around 1,400 healthcare facilities in Sindh; the remaining primary facilities have been transferred to the PPHI for uniformity of quality services," per Dawn.
The representative insisted the entity operates as a non-profit company under Section 42 of the Companies Act, entirely financed and governed by the provincial administration.
"The PPHI is a not-for-profit company established under Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017. It is fully owned and funded by the Sindh government and is neither a private-sector entity nor a public-private partnership," the spokesperson clarified.
Officials argued that this structural framework affords essential administrative agility for contractual recruitment and expedited fund utilisation, ensuring existing employee benefits remain uncompromised.
"Its policies, management structure and use of public funds remain subject to the applicable legal, regulatory, audit and accountability requirements," the spokesperson noted, adding, "It enables the PPHI to recruit personnel on a contractual basis and manage healthcare facilities more efficiently, while government funding is provided through single-line grants. This arrangement is designed to facilitate timely decision-making, strengthen institutional management and ensure the effective utilisation of public resources."
Acknowledging prior administrative grievances that necessitated institutional overhaul, the ministry defended the systemic shift as a vital corrective measure.