Doctors Strike in Pakistan: Routine Care Shut for Two Days Over Tax, Safety and Police Cases
Routine medical care across Pakistan is set to stop for two days from Sunday, 1 November 2026, as doctors begin a nationwide strike that will close outpatient departments, suspend elective surgeries and halt routine diagnostic services at public and private hospitals and clinics. Emergency care at government hospitals is expected to continue, but patients with routine appointments face disruption in every province.
The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), the country’s main doctors’ body, says the action is not about pay. It is about three things doctors say they can no longer accept: a tax system that treats a clinic like a shop, criminal cases filed against doctors after patients suffer complications, and violence and harassment at work that they say goes unpunished.
The strike follows months of warnings. Doctors shut private clinics for a day on 30 September, held a national convention in Gujrat on 11 October, and set 1 November as the deadline for the government to act. When the deadline passed without the changes they wanted, the PMA confirmed the two-day shutdown. It will decide its next steps at a central council meeting on 28 November, so the dispute may not end when the two days are over.
At a glance
What happened: The Pakistan Medical Association has called a two-day nationwide strike on Sunday 1 November and Monday 2 November 2026. Outpatient departments, elective surgeries and routine diagnostic services are to be suspended at public and private healthcare facilities, while emergency services at government hospitals are to continue.
Why it matters: The strike affects routine care for millions of patients and is the most serious escalation yet in a months-long dispute over tax rules, criminal cases against doctors and workplace safety. It also tests whether the two sides can reach a settlement before the PMA decides further action on 28 November.
What happens next: The strike runs for two days. Patients should confirm appointments before travelling, and anyone needing urgent care should use emergency services. The PMA’s Central Council meets on 28 November to decide what happens after that.
What will close, and what will stay open
The strike covers the parts of healthcare most people use most often. Outpatient departments (OPDs), where patients see a doctor without being admitted, are to close. Elective surgeries — planned operations that are not emergencies — are to be suspended, and routine diagnostic services, including laboratory tests and scans booked in advance, are also to stop.
The suspension covers both public and private facilities. That matters, because previous protests often affected one sector more than the other. The PMA’s position is that the strike should be observed nationwide, although the level of disruption will depend on how many doctors take part at each hospital or clinic.
Emergency services are the exception. The PMA has said clearly that emergency departments at government hospitals will remain open so that patients who need urgent attention can still be treated. Even so, anyone with a routine appointment on 1 or 2 November should telephone the hospital or clinic first.
Why doctors are striking: the tax dispute
The largest single cause of the dispute is taxation, and in particular the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) requirement that doctors and clinics use Point of Sale (POS) systems and electronic invoicing. A POS system is the electronic till used by shops and restaurants to record each sale and send the record to the tax authority. The FBR notified medical service providers in February 2026 that they must integrate with it. The PMA says this treats healthcare as if it were an ordinary retail business, and it has rejected the requirement outright.
Doctors argue that medical consultation, hospital treatment and diagnostic services are not subject to sales tax under the current fiscal laws, and that POS integration is fundamentally a sales tax enforcement tool designed for taxable goods. In a letter to the FBR chairman, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro argued that the February notification was against the Constitution and singled out medical professionals while leaving other professional services, such as lawyers, outside the system.
The association also says small clinics and their patients would be hit hardest. Many general practitioners charge only a few hundred rupees for a consultation, a fee that often includes medicines and clinic running costs.
The PMA insists it is not opposed to taxation itself. Speaking in Multan ahead of the 30 September shutdown, PMA Multan General Secretary Dr Imran Haider Qaisrani said the opposition was not against paying tax, but against a mechanism that treated healthcare like an ordinary retail business. The association wants a transparent tax framework agreed through negotiation, uniform treatment across professional services, and a review of the FBR notifications it says were issued without proper consultation. The FBR has not backed down: Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue Dr Sarmad Qureshi said the department would implement the policy set by FBR headquarters, while adding that a strike was the doctors’ right.
The safety and legal complaints
Alongside tax, the strike is driven by what doctors describe as an increasingly hostile working environment. At a press conference at PMA House in Karachi on 29 October, PMA Centre President Dr Izhar Ahmed Chaudhary said doctors faced police raids, arrests and public violence, and described the environment in which doctors work as increasingly hostile.
The most serious legal complaint concerns criminal cases filed against doctors after medical complications or deaths. Dr Shoro told the 29 October press conference that doctors were facing proceedings, including cases under Sections 302 and 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code, after complications and deaths during treatment. Section 302 covers murder, and Section 322 covers causing death by rash or negligent act. The PMA argues that such cases should not proceed without an assessment by a certified and independent medical board.
The association wants an immediate end to the direct registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) against doctors, and it has urged parliament to pass a Healthcare Professionals Protection Act. It also wants stronger security arrangements across healthcare facilities. These concerns are not abstract: in late October, staff at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi warned of a hospital-wide protest after doctors were assaulted and the hospital administration had not registered an FIR against those allegedly responsible.
How the dispute built up
The dispute has run through most of 2026. It began in January, when the PMA started raising concerns about the FBR’s tax measures and wrote to the FBR chairman. In February, the FBR notified medical service providers that they must integrate with the POS and electronic invoicing system. The PMA wrote again, arguing that the notification was unconstitutional and selective, and that medical services should be excluded from POS and electronic integration altogether.
Through the year, doctors’ organisations held conventions and passed resolutions rejecting the POS requirement. On 30 September, the PMA carried out its first nationwide shutdown, closing private outpatient departments, hospital consultations and routine diagnostic services for a day.
The PMA then called an All-Pakistan Doctors’ Convention in Gujrat on 11 October. Around 500 senior medical professionals, provincial representatives and healthcare leaders attended and adopted resolutions covering FBR taxation, healthcare regulation, doctors’ professional dignity and the rights of young practitioners. The alliance included the PMA Centre and its provincial branches, the Young Doctors Association, the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, the Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians, the Private Hospital Association and the Pakistan Dental Association.
The convention set 1 November as the deadline for concrete policy changes from the federal government, the FBR and provincial healthcare commissions, warning that private clinics and hospital OPDs could close in phases if the demands were not met. After the convention, Dr Shoro wrote to the prime minister asking for intervention and dialogue. The final step came on 29 October, when medical organisations held a joint press conference at PMA House in Karachi, setting out the demands on criminal cases, security and taxation. Two days later, the strike was confirmed for 1 and 2 November.
Who is backing the strike
The strike has support well beyond the PMA’s central leadership. The Young Doctors Association (YDA) Sindh announced its full support in a statement dated 31 October, backing the PMA’s demands on FBR taxation, mandatory POS integration, alleged harassment of private practitioners, security and the protection of doctors’ dignity. YDA Sindh said the issues affected the whole medical community, and its representatives had joined a protest demonstration and press conference at the Karachi Press Club in solidarity with the PMA.
PMA Punjab has also backed the strike. In a circular, the provincial branch said clinics and hospitals would be closed on 1 and 2 November in protest against FBR policies affecting the doctors’ community. Dr Umair Ikram, General Secretary of PMA Gujranwala, urged members to show unity and solidarity. In Balochistan, PMA Balochistan announced support for a province-wide doctors’ strike beginning on 1 November, over what it described as unjust taxation by the FBR and the Balochistan Revenue Authority.
What patients should do
For patients, the next two days call for planning rather than panic. Emergency care is still available, and the strike is for two days, not open-ended. But routine care will be disrupted, and the disruption may vary from place to place.
Anyone with a routine appointment, a planned operation or a diagnostic test booked for 1 or 2 November should contact the hospital or clinic first to confirm whether it is going ahead. Some appointments may be rescheduled to later in the week. Patients who take regular medicines should make sure they have enough supply.
Patients who need urgent medical attention should go to a hospital emergency department, which the PMA says will stay open at government hospitals. People with chest pain, breathing difficulty, serious injury, heavy bleeding or sudden weakness should seek emergency care immediately, as they would on any other day.
What the government and the FBR have said
So far, the public response from the government and the FBR has been limited. The FBR has not withdrawn the POS requirement, and its officers have said they will implement the policy set by headquarters. The PMA says it has written to the prime minister asking for intervention and dialogue, but no settlement had been announced by the time the strike was confirmed. The fact that the strike is going ahead suggests that either no serious negotiation took place, or that talks failed to produce an agreement the doctors could accept.
The government faces a difficult balance: it wants to widen the tax net and document the economy, and the FBR sees electronic invoicing as a central tool for that. But shutting down routine healthcare, even for two days, carries a real cost for patients. What the doctors are asking for is not the abolition of tax on medical services, but a negotiated framework: uniform treatment across professions, consultation before new rules are imposed, and recognition that healthcare is different from retail. That leaves room for a settlement, if both sides are willing to talk.
What happens next
The immediate picture is clear: two days of suspended routine care, starting on Sunday, 1 November, and ending on Monday, 2 November. After that, routine services are expected to resume, although rescheduled appointments and a backlog of tests and operations may take days to clear.
The longer picture is less certain. The PMA has said its Central Council will meet on 28 November to decide the next course of action. If the government and the FBR offer a workable tax framework, protection from arbitrary criminal cases, and stronger security for doctors, the council could call off further action. If not, the PMA has already warned of phased closures, and the two-day strike could turn out to have been only the first step.
Frequently asked questions
Are hospitals completely closed on 1 and 2 November 2026?
No. Outpatient departments, elective surgeries and routine diagnostic services are suspended at public and private facilities, but emergency services at government hospitals are to remain open, so patients needing urgent care should still seek emergency treatment.
Which services are affected by the doctors’ strike?
Outpatient consultations, planned (elective) operations and routine diagnostic tests and scans. The level of disruption may vary between hospitals and clinics, depending on how many doctors take part.
Why are doctors striking?
Three main grievances: the FBR’s Point of Sale and electronic invoicing requirement, which doctors say treats healthcare like retail; criminal cases, including FIRs, filed against doctors after medical complications; and violence, harassment and weak security at work. They also want parliament to pass a Healthcare Professionals Protection Act.
What is the POS system dispute about?
The FBR notified medical service providers in February 2026 that they must integrate with Point of Sale and electronic invoicing systems. The PMA argues that medical services are not subject to sales tax, that POS is a sales tax enforcement tool designed for shops, and that the requirement was applied selectively to doctors while other professions were left out.
Has this happened before?
Yes. Doctors shut private outpatient departments, consultations and diagnostic services nationwide on 30 September 2026 in a one-day protest over the same FBR policies. A national convention in Gujrat on 11 October then set 1 November as the deadline for the government to act, and the two-day strike followed when the deadline passed without a settlement.
What happens after 2 November?
Routine services are expected to resume, although there may be a backlog of rescheduled appointments and tests. The PMA’s Central Council meets on 28 November 2026 to decide the next course of action, which could include further strikes.
Conclusion
The two-day doctors’ strike on 1 and 2 November is more than a protest about tax forms. It is the visible sign of a dispute that runs through the whole relationship between Pakistan’s doctors and the state: how healthcare is taxed, how medical mistakes are investigated, and how safe doctors are at work. The PMA has built its case step by step, from letters in January and February, through a one-day shutdown in September and a national convention in October, to a nationwide strike in November.
The government now has a choice. It can treat the two days as a warning and return to the table with a negotiated tax framework, a fair process for investigating medical complaints, and real protection for healthcare workers. Or it can hold its line and risk a longer confrontation, with the PMA’s Central Council meeting on 28 November as the next decision point. Either way, the patients caught in the middle deserve a health system where routine care is not repeatedly interrupted.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://www.medicalnews.pk/31-Oct-2026/pakistan-doctors-strike-november-1-2-pma-yda-healthcare-shutdown (Medical News Pakistan, 31 October 2026)
- https://www.medicalnews.pk/14-Oct-2026/doctors-nationwide-healthcare-shutdown-november-1-2026 (Medical News Pakistan, 14 October 2026)
- https://dailybalochistantimes.com/pma-demands-transparent-tax-mechanism-as-private-hospitals-clinics-to-strike-on-sept-30/ (Daily Balochistan Times, September 2026)
- https://www.thenews.pk/print/1393740-pma-rejects-installation-of-pos-systems (The News, 2026)
- https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Tax+on+health+services+will+contribute+to+brain+drain%3a+PMA.-a0876027115 (Dawn, via The Free Library, 2026)
- https://www.healthmatters.com.pk/news/jpmc-healthcare-alliance-warns-of-hospitalwide-protest-as-deadline-for-fir-registration-expires-at-midnight (Health Matters, October 2026)
