ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has issued around 20,254 registration certificates in the last three months.

According to PMDC Registrar retired Brig Dr Hafizuddin Ahmad Siddiqui, the council has been trying to cover its backlog despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, he said that approximately 523 new experience cases have been disposed of, and the PMDC has received 834 faculty registration forms of which 616 have been disposed of as well.

Around 209 objections to cases have been sent back to doctors for rectification.

The PMDC has also carried out almost 4,000 international and local verifications on an urgent basis.

The PMDC was dissolved by a presidential ordinance promulgated in October last year that replaced it with the Pakistan Medical Commission.

The Islamabad High Court later declared the ordinance null and void, after which the government went to the Supreme Court.

On April 17, the SC ordered the reconstitution of the PMDC with retired Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan as its president and directed him to appoint a registrar in consultation with other members.

In addition to the former SC judge, the attorney general or a nominee, the health secretary, the surgeon general of the armed forces, vice chancellors of the National University of Medical Sciences, the University of Health Sciences in Lahore, Jinnah Sindh Medical University in Karachi, Khyber Medical University in Peshawar, Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences in Quetta, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University in Islamabad, and the principal of De’Montmorency College of Dentistry in Lahore, were nominated as members of the ad hoc council.

In a meeting, the council reappointed Mr Siddiqui, who was previously the registrar of the PMDC as well, registrar and he began working to clear the backlog.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2020