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COVID-19: 200 DOCTORS DIE IN PAK, MEDICAL STAFF FALLING SHORT

Over 202 doctors passed away from the coronavirus since the pandemic began while 30 paramedics have also succumbed to the infection, as per a press release from the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the PMA urged the Pakistani government to provide Shuhuda package compensation to families of over 200 doctors who had passed […]

Over 202 doctors passed away from the coronavirus since the pandemic began while 30 paramedics have also succumbed to the infection, as per a press release from the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the PMA urged the Pakistani government to provide Shuhuda package compensation to families of over 200 doctors who had passed away from the coronavirus, reported The News International. Out of these, 74 doctors hailed from Punjab while 64 belonged to Sindh.

Among the doctors who passed away due to the coronavirus, 53 belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while 6 hailed from Balochistan, 3 from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and one doctor from Gilgit-Baltistan, reported The News International.

Among them were nine who were professors of medicine while an equal number of ENT experts also succumbed to the virus.

As per the press release, the total number of healthcare workers who have passed away in Pakistan from the virus include seven gynaecologists, six pathologists and three postgraduate trainees as well.

The association called upon the government to provide the compensation which was included in the Shuhuda package for healthcare workers to the families of the deceased, adding that they were frontline warriors in the battle against the pandemic, reported The News International.

As per data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 2,869 coronavirus cases in a single day on Wednesday. The positivity ratio in Pakistan stands at 7.42 per cent today.

Despite playing a vital role on the frontlines of the deadly third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, the country is facing an acute shortage of nurses and healthcare professionals, said policymakers and academics.

Policymakers and academics came during a seminar at the Aga Khan University Hospital, held to celebrate the International Day of Nurses and Midwives, reported Geo News. Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh Province, Murad Ali Shah, the chief guest at the event, noted that the demand for nurses has been increasing worldwide.

“We are mindful of the fact that due to the global shortage of nurses, the demand worldwide has increased which is giving our nurses the opportunity to migrate to high-income countries to improve their quality of life. This is definitely something we do not want to happen as in Pakistan, there had already been a shortage of 1.3 million nurses before the pandemic,” he said.

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