PMA threatens nationwide protest over PIMS fire deaths

Association seeks judicial probe, removal of PIMS administration and nationwide safety audit

IV Report

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), the major representative body of doctors in the country, has threatened nationwide protests if the government fails to accept its demands for accountability and comprehensive safety audits following the deaths of 14 newborns in a fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, less than 36 hours after the incident, the PMA recalled several other major fire and safety-related incidents in healthcare facilities across the country, arguing that the PIMS tragedy was part of a recurring pattern of administrative and structural failures rather than an isolated event.

The association demanded a transparent inquiry into the PIMS management by a serving judge of the highest court, removal of the hospital’s executive administration and other officials responsible for facility management and regulatory oversight, and an immediate third-party safety and security audit of all public and private healthcare facilities, with priority given to high-risk rural and district hospitals.

The press conference was addressed by PMA Centre Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, President-elect Dr Sher Shah Syed, PMA Karachi General Secretary Dr Shahid Ebrahim Mamsa and PMA Karachi President Dr Muhammad Ismail Memon.

The PMA said the PIMS fire had exposed what it described as a “profound failure of public duty”, particularly in a premier federal health facility operating under direct government oversight.

It alleged that the presence of locked emergency doors, compromised fire-safety protocols and inadequate life-safety systems in high-risk wards pointed to serious administrative and structural failures. The association said that if such deficiencies existed in the capital’s flagship hospital, conditions in rural and underprivileged districts could be considerably worse.

Recalling previous incidents, the PMA cited an ICU fire at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi, in June 2026; a fire that destroyed emergency and dialysis departments in Sehwan Sharif in November 2025; and an air-conditioning short circuit in the paediatric ward of Sahiwal Teaching Hospital in June 2024 that killed 11 infants.

It also referred to a February 2024 fire at Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad, in which four healthcare staff members died; a nursery fire at Children’s Hospital, Lahore, in May 2023, which killed one newborn and injured another; and the December 2020 oxygen-supply failure at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar.

The association further cited safety concerns involving electrical short-circuits and inadequate emergency exits at tertiary-care facilities in Lahore in 2017.

The PMA criticised what it called the “standard government playbook” of suspending junior ward attendants or medical staff after such incidents while leaving senior administrative leadership untouched.

It maintained that safety was a top-down administrative responsibility and that officials with decision-making authority over budgets, building codes and procurement should be held accountable.

Under its first demand, the association sought an inquiry into PIMS management by a serving judge of the highest court, with the full consent and trust of the bereaved parents.

It also demanded the immediate resignation and removal of the entire PIMS executive administration and senior officials responsible for facility management and regulatory oversight.

The third demand called for an immediate third-party safety and security audit of every public and private healthcare facility in the country, particularly high-risk rural and district hospitals.

The PMA warned that failure by the government to act against those responsible at the helm of the system would unite the medical fraternity across all four provinces in a nationwide protest.

The PMA’s demands came as the government had already ordered an inquiry into the tragedy. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted a high-level committee headed by retired federal secretary Shahid Khan to determine the cause of the fire, review the emergency response and fire-safety arrangements, and establish responsibility, if any.

The committee was directed to submit an interim report within 48 hours and a comprehensive report within five days. The Prime Minister also suspended the Federal Health Secretary following the incident.

The PMA leaders said hospitals should remain places of healing rather than settings where patients, including newborns, pay the price for administrative failures.

Photos courtesy: PMA