KARACHI, April 5: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has agreed in principle to have a full-fledged Pakistan Dental Council in the country. Necessary formalities in this regard are in the process of being finalized. Prof Rafiq Memon, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Liaquat University of Health Sciences and member of the PMDC said this on Tuesday at the inaugural ceremony of the out-patients department of the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Department at the LNH.
Prof Memon, a senior health professional and a respected medical teacher of the country said under the new arrangement, the Pakistan Medical Council and Pakistan Dental Council would function as two separate entities but under a single umbrella.
“The matter is in the law department and will be soon approved by the concerned authorities,” he said, stressing that a separate and officially recognized dental council was very much needed.
Elaborating his stance, he said not only were resources mainly channelized to medical schools, but focus was also largely on them in terms of required improvement and upgradation in training programme, all at the expense of dental schools.
Prof Memon said the condition of dentistry in Pakistan was variable in cities and rural areas, adding that 80 per cent of population being poor could not afford dental treatment.
Moreover, he said there were only 18 dental educational institutions in the country, but most of them faced problems of recognition in the face of acute shortage of postgraduate dentistry teachers.
“We ourselves did not allow the dentistry profession to grow freely,” he observed, suggesting that concerted efforts were required to maintain an environment of competition instead of discouraging any sector.
He also suggested that the LNH, being one of the most outstanding health care centres of the country, must also start postgraduate level dental health programmes to meet the shortage of well qualified dentists in the country.
Earlier, Prof John D Langdon, a seasoned dental surgeon and professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Guy’s Kings and St Thomas Hospital, UK, inaugurated the refurbished department of the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery at the LNH.
Prof Langdon is a board member faculty of dentistry at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and President Norman Rowe Educational Trust, but also an author of many books on the subject of head and neck cancer.
He is also the past president of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, past president of the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists, and chairman, Department of Health Working Party on Urgent Referral of Head and Neck Cancer.
Dr Jehanzeb Mughal, head of the Dentistry Department, LNH introduced the guests including Dr Langdon, Dr Michael D Williams (Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, UK) and Dr Rafiq Memon. He particularly thanked Prof Langdon for gracing the occasion.
Dr Mughal also discussed ongoing activities and future plans envisaged for the department.
The renovated department now holds provision for latest diagnostics equipment besides updated treatment interventions.
Prof Langdon meanwhile pledged his support to the cause of developing postgraduate dental education in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons.
He appreciated updated facilities to be provided at the LNH dental department, while advising local surgeons to become trainers and strive to make their students better than themselves.
He also advised the hospital to remain on its current path and not allow the administration, management and nurses to try and run hospitals. In his opinion, that was a mistake the national health services had made in the UK and was currently paying the price by slowly becoming substandard and badly managed.
Dr Salman Faridi, Director of the LNH, in his concluding remarks, observed with pride that the LNH had over the years emerged as a unique institution in terms of expertise.—APP
