LAHORE, Dec 17: The federal government has decided to clamp down on the unregistered medical colleges exploiting students all over the country.

This was stated by federal health secretary Ejaz Rahim while talking to reporters after the concluding session of a three-day meeting of health officers doing research with the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), in a local hotel on Wednesday. He said he would soon write to the authorities concerned to stop admissions to these colleges.

He, however, said the government was not responsible for the exploitation of students by such colleges. The students seeking admissions to these colleges were themselves responsible for their ‘craze’ for the medical profession.

Mr Rahim also said there was no need for more medical colleges as there was over-production of doctors in Pakistan. He said doctors were already not getting jobs while they were not willing to serve in rural areas.

Answering a question, he said the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council had full authority to inspect medical colleges and the Supreme Court had given its verdict on the issue. He also said the PMDC, an autonomous body responsible for monitoring the standard of medical education, must strictly monitor public and private sector medical colleges.

Answering a question about Punjab health minister’s proposal for devolving drug-licensing authority to the provincial level for ensuring the supply of quality medicine, the federal secretary said drugs’ licences were already being issued by a national board that gave equal representation to the provinces. No licence could be issued in the absence of any provincial representative.

Mr Rahim also remarked that the proposal was completely misguided because the standards set at provincial or district level could never match the standards set at the national level.

Regarding medicines’ prices, he asserted that 70 per cent medicines were cheaper in Pakistan than in India. He said these prices had been fixed despite the fact that Pakistan had the availability of only eight per cent raw material locally, while India used 90 per cent local raw material. He also said that 40 per cent Indian medicines were being manufactured in the cottage industry and this was being condemned at the international level.

He said India had selected certain medicines for production under strict quality control processes for import purposes.

Earlier, speaking at the concluding session, Mr Rahim stressed the need for devising indicators and situation analysis systems to measure the state of health in the country as well as in the region. He said there was also need for measuring changes based on achievement, investment, health research and health policies.

He said that issues related to population, public health, poverty and pollution needed to be addressed on priority basis. He said the infant and mother mortality rates in Pakistan were extremely high in the region and needed to be checked. He said that around 25 per cent children had low birth weight. “The government’s focus on household and family can be the basis of social change.”

Stressing that health research must be linked to formulation of policies, Mr Rahim said he had decided to direct the Pakistan Medical and Research Council to present its research report on a holistic view of medical research and health status of the country to its board of governors and the federal government on an annual basis.

He also called for an inter-agency link in EMRO countries for health research. He also said that each PC-I prepared for a health project must have a portion for research.

He said there was also need for involving the local pharmaceutical industry in research in the health sector. “Research is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity,” he remarked.

A number of papers were presented during the conference.