LAHORE: A board of governors will soon be constituted for running efficiently the administrative affairs of the Shaikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital.

This was decided in a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the hospital held here on Monday.

The Health Department will soon dispatch a summary to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for the approval of names of BoG members.

The meeting decided that the BoG would include the Punjab health secretary, finance secretary or his representative, vice-chancellor of University of Health Sciences, Lahore, College of Physicians, Surgeons Pakistan president, Planning & Development chairman or his representative and the Punjab Accountant General while private members will include people from the medical sector, industrialists and MPAs.

The Punjab chief minister will approve names of BoG members which will be authorized to constitute an executive committee.

transferred: The health department has transferred and posted medical superintendents of three hospitals here on Monday.

According to a notification, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Umar Farooq Baloch was transferred and posted as Services Hospital MS while Jinnah MS Dr Abdul Rauf was transferred and posted as Faisalabad DHQ Hospital Faisalabad MS vice Dr Ziaullah who replaced Dr Rauf in Jinnah Hospital.

The department also transferred Lady Aitchison Hospital MS Dr Waqar Nabi Bajwa and posted him as Ganga Ram Hospital MS.

It also posted Dr Sher Ali Khan, awaiting posting, as MS of the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology.

Hepatitis B, C: Hepatitis B and C are the fast spreading diseases in the country raising concerns for health professionals and policymakers.

This was stated by adviser to the Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique at a conference on hepatitis held by the Health Department at Aiwan-i-Iqbal on Monday.

He said the government was trying to eliminate quackery to control hepatitis and also making a legislation for declaring quackery a non-bailable crime.

The conference was aimed at informing doctors, nurses and health managers about the situation of hepatitis and also raise awareness among the people with regard to observing hepatitis week from Oct 28 in the province.

Health Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik was present.

Mr Rafique said the cutting of disposable syringes was essential for which cutters had also been provided to hospitals but implementation on the scheme carried a question mark.

He said the government would provide injections and medicines to 100,000 hepatitis patients in the future a state-of-the-art liver transplant centre was being set up at Dera Chahal in Lahore.

He said the government would evolve a policy for the control of hepatitis in the light of recommendations presented by professionals at the conference.

Drive against quacks: The Punjab Healthcare Commission’s Board of Commissioners (BoCs) reviewed the campaign being undertaken against quackery in the province.

The board was informed that during 2014, some 178 clinics of unqualified medical practitioners were sealed and 564 quacks were challaned, according to a press release issued on Monday.

It was informed that FIRs were launched against 52 quacks and cases of 192 others were referred to the District Quality Control Boards for violating Drugs Act, 1976, in various Punjab districts.

The BoCs stressed the need to prosecute such offenders as they were playing havoc with the health and lives of the people, and advised the PHC management to continue the campaign in cooperation with the district governments.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2014