Islamabad, January 31: Despite being a close ally in the so-called “war on terror”, the US and its Western allies are imposing an unannounced ban on Pakistan’s surgeons, denying them medical training.
“There has been a 90 percent decline in on-hands jobs for Pakistani surgeons and doctors in UK, and US during last few years,” Professor Tariq Mahmood, the head of Pakistan Society for Surgeons, told.
Since the 9/11 attacks, Pakistani surgeons have been facing restrictions to get on-job training in the US and Britain.
The restrictions have forced an estimated 4,000 under-training surgeons to return to Pakistan after being denied on-job training in US and British medical institutions.
“Some 2,000 surgeons had completed their MRCS (member of royal college of surgery), and were seeking on-hands jobs to pursue FRCS (fellow of royal college of surgery) degree,” said Mahmood, a senior general surgeon.
“But they were denied on-job training.
“Doctors, especially surgeons, are coming back to Pakistan without completing their degrees because of this phenomenon because they cannot afford training at their own.”
The visa restrictions have caused to drop the numbers of Pakistani surgeons seeking training in the West from hundreds to merely dozens every year.
“This is simply lamentable that first you do not get visa for these countries, and even if you get, you will not find any job there,” Mahmood said.
“It is hard for a Pakistani doctor to pay in dollars or pounds for training.”
A row has recently raged between Pakistan and Britain after London denied visas to thousands of Pakistani students.
“When we contacted the British institutions and hospitals about this issue, they said they have been restricted by their government to prefer doctors from European Union for on-job training,” said Mahmood.
Discriminatory
Pakistani surgeons lamented the ‘discriminatory’ US-British policy against their close ally.
“Even those Pakistani surgeons who can afford training at their own are being denied visas,” said Professor Mohammad Saleem, another veteran surgeon.
“No reason is being cited for rejection of their visa applications.”
Pakistani surgeons ridiculed the West’s claim that Pakistan is a close ally in the war on terror.
“If we are a close ally in war on terror, then we will be preferred, rather than those who are not allies,” Saleem said.
“We are the one, who have been paying the actual price of war on terror.”
Dr. Mahmood, the senior general surgeon, agrees.
“This is ironic that on the one hand, we are close ally in so-called war on terror, while on the other hand, the doors of specialization are being closed on us,” said Mahmood.
“The Pakistani government, instead of asking for money all the time, must demand transfer of technology and specialization, which are long lasting and more fruitful.”
Grave Impact
The West’s ban on the Pakistani surgeons risks to have grave consequences on the medical field in the Muslim country.
“Earlier, Pakistani surgeons would go to UK, and US, met their expenses through on-hands jobs, and acquire experience in the field of surgery by working under senior doctors there,” said Mahmood.
“Then they used to return after a couple of working experience here and teach the local surgeons, who could not afford to travel to UK or US.
“But there is an increasing shortage of qualified surgeons in the country, which may assume alarming proportions in years to come”, he said.
“We will have no qualified surgeons in coming years to teach our young surgeons.”
Dr Saleem is also worried.
“The gap is widening with every passing year,” he said, warning that the gap would be unbridgeable within a decade.
“It’s been nine years that our surgeons are being discriminated,” he said.
“The impact was not visible during first few years, but now the accumulative affect of this phenomenon is evident.”
-Agencies