ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday visited the Pakistan Medical Dental Council (PMDC) and was given a presentation regarding the functioning and progress of the council.

In an official statement, the council said this is the first visit of a CJP in the history of the council and that Mr Nisar had appreciated the ad hoc council’s efforts for the streamlining of the PMDC’s functions.

The statement released by the council says the CJP was given a presentation by the PMDC president and members of the ad-hoc council. It says the chief justice appreciated the efforts of the council and expressed satisfaction regarding the functioning of the PMDC.

“The CJP emphasised the importance of council as it is the apex regulatory body and it deals with the most important areas of health care system i.e. medical/dental profession, education and medical and dental institutions as defined under section 6 of the Medical /Dental PMDC Ordinance 1962 by Amended Act 2012,” the statement says.

“He added that he expects more efforts to be done for enhancing the quality of medical education by the [ad-hoc] council to ensure improvement in functioning of PMDC and to produce quality doctors,” statement concludes.

The council was one of the most active regulatory bodies in the health sectors and remained in the limelight due to its claims of streamlining the issues of private medical colleges, affiliated hospitals and student welfare.

The council would frequently share its performance reports. Private medical colleges have held many press conferences against the council whenever it tried to reduce student fee, put a stop to medical colleges receiving donations or ensure the availability of equipment in hospitals.

The council was dissolved on Jan 12 this year by the Supreme Court and a nine-member ad-hoc committee chaired by a former SC judge, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan, was formed to run its affairs. The court had directed that PMDC Registrar Dr Wasim Hashmi shall continue working.

The new management has been working since but has stopped interactions with the media and does not even share its positive decisions.

An official of the council said the management’s decision of limiting contact with the media given an impression that the council is not working at all.

“During the last five months or so, management has not held a single press conference and hardly issues press releases to share its progress. It gives an impression that the council is not functioning. I suggest the media should be told about its performance as this increases the public’s trust in institutions,” he said.

The official said the council should take action against the colleges which receive donations and additional fees from students as highlighting such steps makes medical colleges more careful and encourages students to lodge complaints against them.

Doctor requests CJP to intervene

During his visit to the council, a Dr Anam Asfaque told the chief justice that though she had completed her MSc Public Health from the University of Bedfordshire, UK and had also completed 180 credit hours, which are required for a masters’ degree, the council had said her degree will be considered a diploma because it was completed in a year and a half.

The chief justice directed her to submit copies of her documents in SC and assured her her case will be looked into.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2018