KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Monem Zafar Khan on Wednesday raised alarm over both the spiralling HIV outbreak among children at Valika Hospital and the worsening plight of young doctors at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, as he condemned the provincial government’s handling of public healthcare across the city.
Speaking at a press conference alongside the doctors in Nazimabad, Monem demanded immediate payment of outstanding salaries to house officers and postgraduate trainees, who had been staging a peaceful protest for the past week over non-payment of dues and other longstanding issues.
He expressed grave concern that the number of HIV cases among children at Valika Hospital had crossed 100 due to government negligence, noting that the Sindh Health Minister had himself acknowledged that 78 children had tested positive. He also criticized the provincial government’s decision to transfer control of 730 additional basic health units to the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), questioning the purpose of maintaining a government if public services were to be run through private entities.
According to the JI leader, doctors at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital had not received salaries for the past two and a half months. He highlighted that the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) had set the monthly salary of house officers at Rs69,600 and postgraduate trainees at Rs104,390 in 2024. However, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was paying only Rs45,000 to house officers and Rs75,000 to postgraduate trainees. “The difference is being withheld and lost to corruption,” Monem alleged. He added that young doctors worked in extremely difficult circumstances, risking their lives to serve patients, yet were being paid less than a security guard.
The JI Karachi chief said the Sindh government was unwilling to provide necessary funds to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, despite it being a major 1,000-bed facility with a half-century history. He warned that several departments were on the verge of closure, the neurology department had neither a professor nor an assistant professor, and the children’s outpatient department had already shut down, depriving thousands of citizens of treatment.
He criticized both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led provincial government and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), accusing them of jointly ruining Karachi’s public institutions. He said the entire city was paying the price for what he described as the PPP government’s incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption. Despite the Sindh government allocating Rs393 billion for the health sector in the current budget, the condition of public hospitals was worsening each day, he said, calling Abbasi Shaheed Hospital “a hub of problems.”
He urged authorities to clear all pending dues without delay and ensure the provision of medicines, medical equipment, and other essential facilities at the hospital. He affirmed that JI stood by the young doctors and would raise their issues at every constitutional and democratic forum, including the City Council and the Sindh Assembly.
Others present at the press conference included KMC opposition leader Saifuddin Advocate, JI District Central chief Syed Wajeeh Hassan, district secretary Suhail Zaidi, North Nazimabad Town Chairman Atif Ali Khan, Nazimabad Town Chairman Syed Muhammad Muzaffar and several young doctors and house officers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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