LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed reservations on the law on setting up of district health authorities in the province.

Amendments to the Drug Act and the Punjab Health Commission’s advertisements in the media were the other concerns expressed during the executive committee meeting, presided over by PMA’s Lahore chapter President Prof Dr Ajmal Hassan Naqvi on Thursday.

Terming both amendments to the Drug Act and district health authorities’ law ‘vague’, the meeting demanded that through a resolution the same should be revised in consultation with all stakeholders. The laws are unacceptable to the medical fraternity in their present form.

It was also decided to constitute a committee to finalise recommendations for making both laws practicable.

The participants were of the view that bifurcation of the health department had done more harm than good. “The move has merely increased the administrative cost and a single health department could be instrumental in better healthcare system.”

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017