QUETTA (DNA) – Doctors and paramedics in Balochistan on Saturday ended a 50-day strike, which caused immense suffering to patients across the province, after negotiations with the provincial government to ensure their safety and security.

Meanwhile, the out-patient departments (OPDs) have been reopened.

The current Provincial Minister of the Balochistan for Health Mir Naseebullah Khan spoke to the media outside the Civil Hospital in Quetta after successful negotiations with protesting doctors.

He asserted that certain reservations of doctors would be addressed on the priority basis, and effective measures would be taken to ensure their safety.

The Doctors Action Committee (DAC) had been on strike in protest against kidnapping of Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Khalil, the neurosurgeon who was abducted and returned home on January 30 after 48 days in captivity.

He was kidnapped by armed men from Quetta on December 13, 2018.

Reportedly, Balochistan government had constituted an investigation team to inquire into his kidnapping.

However, doctors affiliated with the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and the Young Doctors Association (YDA) had expressed their dissatisfaction over the measures taken by the government and subsequently, the out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government-run hospitals including the Civil Hospital in Quetta and Bolan Medical Complex were shut down in protest.

They had been demanding a comprehensive security measures for the safety of doctors.

Earlier, Quetta Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema assured that the kidnappers of the neurosurgeon would be brought to justice.