| December 10, 2003 | Wednesday | Shawwal 15, 1424 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
Medical colleges
The unholy fence
It is this economic picture which the planners in Pakistan need to keep in mind while proposing mutually beneficial bilateral trade and investment projects. An environment for undertaking such projects has been created with the signing of the five agreements, one of which stipulates investment in each other’s countries by the private sectors of the two. Since both grow cotton and have a lot of experience in producing and marketing textiles, the two could join hands to make most of the upcoming liberalization in the world cotton textile market. More so, as Pakistan would be able to provide Kazakhstan ready access to world markets for its textile products with value addition in Pakistan which would surely enhance the profit margin for the country of origin. The recently signed quadripartite agreement on transit traffic between Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan and China should enable the two countries to get the import requirements of Kazakhstan quickly transported to their destination, again by value adding in Pakistan as that would make it highly economical for the country of final destination.
The economic managers in the two countries, while planning for the future, should keep in mind that as of today both Pakistan and Kazakhstan are predominantly importing countries which makes it difficult for them to quickly enhance their bilateral trade in goods. There is, however, some room for trading in services and that is the reason why perhaps the two have signed an agreement for establishing their bank branches in each other’s countries. In urban economic management Pakistan could provide a lot of assistance to Kazakhstan and even in environment control Islamabad has more expertise and could help Almaty in overcoming the enormous problems that it faces because of environmental degradation of its rivers. And young Kazakhs wanting to learn international languages can take advantage of the facilities that exist at our National University of Modern Languages.
THE Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has once again brought to public attention the manner in which private medical colleges are being allowed to operate in the country in the absence of clear rules regarding their eligibility and functioning. According to the PMDC’s president, any entrepreneur desirous of making money can establish a medical or dental college as there is no defined procedure for inspecting the facility before allowing it to start functioning and imparting medical education. The PMDC says that it has approached the government to provide for inspection of the infrastructure of these institutions before giving its approval and is hopeful that this procedure would be implemented soon. Not long ago, an ordinance was in force prescribing rules and conditions with regard to the opening of a new medical institution. But this ordinance lapsed in the absence of timely legislation validating it. In the resulting legal vacuum some unscrupulous elements have set up medical “colleges” in bungalows or make-shift accommodations without the teaching or lab facilities of the needed standards and without bothering much about the future professional status of the “graduates” of such institutions for purposes of employment or high studies in medicine or dentistry.
The PMDC has taken the line that while it is not against the opening of new medical colleges, such institutions must be put through a process of inspection and evaluation of the facilities and infrastructure that they have as well as the credentials of the teaching staff to determine their eligibility for recognition. This is the correct approach as medical education is one where no compromises in standards can be made. It is the duty of the government to ensure that the institutions that are training doctors and dentists of tomorrow are fully equipped and staffed to do their job. As a first step the government must put in place a regulatory law laying down the criteria and procedure for new and existing private medical colleges to be allowed to function, covering also their fee structures and terms of employment of their teaching staff. The next step should to close down all fake and substandard institutions that have been set up only to exploit the large gap in this particular sphere of professional education for monetary gains.
THE UN General Assembly has finally been authorized by a majority vote that the case of the fence being built by Israel around Palestinian territories be referred to the International Court of Justice. If the ICJ decides to take up the case for adjudication, it is likely to give a ruling against the construction of the fence. This, the Arab countries hope, will build further pressure on Israel to stop the construction of the 150km-long fence that seeks to lock out the Palestinians from Israel proper and from illegal Jewish settlements built on Palestinian land. The decision to move the ICJ was taken by the Arab states because Israel has consistently flouted all non-binding UN resolutions on occupied territories, including the status of Al Quds. As expected, Israel and the US opposed the resolution, while the European Union, which is otherwise a very vocal opponent of the fence, chose to abstain from voting.
The controversial fence is illegal not only because it is being built on Palestinian land but also because it is aimed at scuttling the US-backed roadmap to peace, which Israel and the Palestinian Authority both have accepted in principle. But more than anything else, the fence is wrong because it will seriously affect the economic viability of the future Palestinian state. The lack of economic activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip makes it necessary for the Palestinians to be allowed to move freely between the two territories and in and out of Israel proper, where they sought jobs before the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000. Thus, by erecting this illegal fence, Ariel Sharon simply seeks to strike at the very lifeline of an independent Palestinian state. It would be a great shame if the world community were to let Israel get away with this criminal deed.