LAHORE, June 5: The Punjab health department, in collaboration with the Walker Martineau and Salim Associates, has finalized the first draft bill to regulate private medical colleges, hospitals, clinics and laboratories.

The draft, prepared by former judges K. M. A. Samdani, Faiz Karim, M. S. H. Qureshi and Barrister Salim Sehgal, was discussed clause by clause at the health secretariat on Thursday.

Punjab health secretary Hasan Wasim Afzal told reporters that the department was receiving numerous complaints about the doubtful results being given by different private laboratories.

Similarly, private clinics were found involved in conducting major operations after giving anaesthesia to patients by non-qualified anaesthetists.

Currently, he said neither the health minister nor secretary had powers to visit and check private medical colleges, hospitals, clinics and laboratories.

Mr Afzal said the department would consult representatives of private medical colleges, hospitals, clinics and laboratories on certain issues. About the circulation of the draft legislation among these representatives before discussing it in the cabinet and Punjab Assembly, he said the department would take newsmen into confidence.

He said the department was also working to set up a Biomedical Equipment Regulatory Authority to lay down minimum international standards for the import and sale of equipment. At present the sector was not controlled, he added.

The department was also working to revive the Punjab Health Foundation to use its Rs500 million endowment fund for the welfare of public, he maintained.

Besides offering loans to set up polyclinics in under-developed districts in the province, he said the foundation would be asked to give matching grants to the tertiary care and DHQ hospitals to establish big pharmacies on state land to provide medicines at subsidized rates to patients.

Hospitals would also post pharmacists at these pharmacies to facilitate patients round-the-clock, Mr Afzal continued.

He said hospitals would then purchase medicines in bulk and them to patients on 25 per cent discount.