Needless suffering.

A RECENT report in this paper highlighted a significant (and significantly overlooked) consequence of the doctors' strike in KP, which has been going on for some time now: the human cost of doctors, nurses and paramedic staff not showing up for duty, which is felt most deeply by patients desperately in need of medical attention. While the protesting doctors' bodies, the KP police, the government and provincial health authorities battle it out, with apparently no negotiation process in sight, it is unfortunate that the patients are made to suffer the most - particularly children - through no fault of their own, and because of developments they have no control over. In the report, parents of children in need of life-saving vaccinations have complained about missing staff at the hospitals they have visited, at a time when the province is suffering from an entirely preventable outbreak of measles amongst some sections of the population.

Furthermore, the strike presents yet another blow to anti-polio efforts in KP, which has the highest number of polio cases in the country. In recent months, the province has witnessed various communities refusing to have their children vaccinated until other vital services are provided by the government in their localities; a massive spike in vaccine refusal rates due to disinformation...