PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday ordered the provincial government to constitute the board of governors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission at the earliest and produce a report about it.

A bench consisting of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mehfooz expressed annoyance at a long delay in the BoG formation and directed additional advocate general Syed Sikander Hayat Shah to take up the matter with the chief secretary and inform the court about progress on it on Oct 1, the next date of hearing.

It also ordered strict enforcement of the rates fixed for diagnostic tests, especially for Covid-19, and action against profiteers.

It observed that private laboratories fleeced people by charging them exorbitant rates for diagnostic tests.

The bench was hearing two petitions related to health issues.

Govt also told to crack down on profiteering by laboratories

One petition has been filed by Kohat resident Mohammadullah Khan against the alleged illegal kidney transplantation of his uncle, Haji Habib Khan, by a group, including some doctors on the payment of Rs2.55 million. The patient had died within two days of the transplantation.

Counsel for the petitioner Malik Ajmal Khan has requested the court to direct the FIA and HCC to act against culpable people and hold a high-level inquiry against those involved in the illegal organ trade.

The second petition filed by lawyer Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel is about the contempt of court.

The petitioner has requested the high court to order action against the chief executive of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission and high-ups of the health department over failure to ensure uniformity in the charges of health facilities, including laboratories and clinics, in accordance with an earlier order of the court.

Saifullah contended that after the outbreak of Covid-19, the high court judgment delivered on Nov 13, 2019, had assumed importance as the HCC and health department had so far not fixed rates for health facilities and brought uniformity in rates.

Besides Sikandar Hayat, deputy attorney general Amir Jawed, HCC director (operation) Syed Wilayat Shah and Federal Investigation Agency inspector Adnan Ahmad also appeared before the bench on Wednesday.

Inspector Adnan said different laboratories were inspected in line with the court’s orders and were found to be charging higher charges for Covid-19 testing compared with those in Islamabad and Punjab.

Wilayat Shah informed the court that the commission had divided all laboratories in the province into three categories and fixed different rates for every category.

He claimed that the HCC had been taking action against the laboratories overcharging the visitors seeking tests.

DAG Amir Jawed informed the bench that the HCC’s board of governors had been non-functional for the last many months.

The bench expressed displeasure at a long delay in the formation of the BoG and wondered how the commission could function without the major decision-making body.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2020