Although Saturday is an off-day for most government departments in the capital, uncertainty over the future of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) kept healthcare professionals and medical practitioners busy, as they scrambled to get more information about the unexpected presidential ordinance, through which the PMDC executive committee was dissolved on Friday night. Most interested parties were keen to find out whether elections to the executive council would be held within 120 days and whether the government would be able to get the newly-promulgated ordinance through parliament. According to an official statement from the National Health Services (NHS) ministry, retired Maj-Gen Azhar Kiyani was designated the new chairman of the executive committee. On Saturday, it emerged that he had left the country, leading to speculation that he may be unwilling to accept the responsibility. However, it was later revealed that the visit had been scheduled beforehand and that Maj-Gen Kiyani would be back in the country by Sept 6. Govt have announced a five-member management committee to elect a new body to run PMDC. The number of the executive council members will be reduced from over 100 to just 35. There will be one representative from each of the public sector colleges in four provinces, Fata and Islamabad. One representative each will be from the private colleges in four provinces, Fata and the Islamabad capital territory. Out of the 35, as many as 20 members will be elected and the remaining nominated (ex-officio) on the basis of their expertise in different fields such as the law. Elections to the council will be held under a representative of the chief justice of Pakistan. This is a good thing. Over 100,000 doctors, tens of thousands of students and around 6,000 faculty members in 100 medical and dental colleges and health facilities are directly or indirectly related to the PMDC. With a rampant decline of quality of services being provided by them, such an initiative will make sure that a transparent process is available for any dealings undertaken. One cannot simply close down colleges as thousands of students’ careers are at stake. Officials have quoted that the most important point in the new law, is that a conflict of interest would not be allowed- the owners of colleges and other stakeholders cannot become members of the PMDC executive council.
pk.shafaqna.com
