Karachi: Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi Chief Monem Zafar Khan on Wednesday demanded immediate payment of full and outstanding salaries to house officers and postgraduate trainees at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, saying the city's public healthcare system had deteriorated despite the Sindh government's hefty health budget.Speaking at a press conference at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in Nazimabad alongside young doctors, he said house officers and postgraduate trainees had been staging a peaceful protest for the past week over non-payment of salaries and other longstanding issues.He called on the authorities to clear all pending dues without delay and ensure the provision of medicines, medical equipment and other essential facilities at the hospital. He said Jamaat-i-Islami stood by the young doctors in their struggle and would raise their issues at every constitutional and democratic forum, including the City Council and the Sinsh Assembly.He criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government and the Mutt ahida Qaumi Movement, accusing them of jointly ruining Karachi's public institutions. He said the entire city was paying the price for what he described as the PPP government's incompetence, mismanagement and corruption.He said that despite the Sindh government allocating Rs393 billion for the health sector in the current budget, the condition of public hospitals was worsening with each passing day. 'Abbasi Shaheed Hospital has become a hub of problems,' he said.Expressing alarm over the situation at Valika Hospital, he said the number of HIV cases among children had crossed 100 because of the government's negligence. Referring to the provincial health minister's remarks, he said the minister had himself acknowledged that 78 children had tested positive for HIV, calling the situation deeply troubling.He also criticised the provincial government's decision to place another 730 basic health units under the control of PPHI, asking what justification remained for the government's existence if public service s were to be run through private entities.He said that doctors at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital had not been paid salaries for the past two and a half months. According to him, the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) had fixed the monthly salary of house officers at Rs69,600 and postgraduate trainees at Rs104,390 in 2024, but the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was paying only Rs45,000 to house officers and Rs75,000 to PGs.He said that the difference in salaries was being withheld and lost to corruption, adding that young doctors worked in extremely difficult circumstances, risking their lives to serve patients, yet were being paid less than a security guard.The JI leader said the Sindh government was unwilling to provide Abbasi Shaheed Hospital with the funds it required, despite the fact that it was a major 1,000-bed facility with a history spanning half a century. He said several departments were on the verge of closure, the neurology department had neither a professor nor an assistant prof essor, and the children's outpatient department had already shut down, depriving thousands of citizens of treatment.Others present at the press conference included KMC opposition leader Saifuddin Advocate, JI District Central chief Syed Wajeeh Hassan, district secretary Suhail Zaidi, North Nazimabad Town Chairman Atif Ali Khan, Nazimabad Town Chairman Syed Muhammad Muzaffar, information secretary Zahid Askari, and young doctors and house officers.