LAHORE, Jan 20: The Pakistan Medical Association, Punjab, criticized the mode of legislation of the Health Ordinance 2002 on Sunday and described it as a defective law.

It was pointed out at a meeting of the provincial council of the Association held here that the Health Department had presented the draft to the governor for promulgation without eliciting the opinion of the representative organizations of the doctors. The lacunae in the ordinance could have been removed if these organizations had been consulted.

The council proposed that a committee headed by the chief secretary should be constituted to recommend the names for the autonomous institutions’ boards of governors. The council was of the view that the inclusion of health and finance secretaries in all the BOGs of all the 16 districts in the Punjab would affect their working adversely. It would be better to include the Executive District Officers (Health) in the BOGs in their place.

The council was of the view that public representatives, district government nominees and doctors from the institutions concerned should also be included in the BOGs. The office of the principal should be retained instead of replacing it with a dean.

A committee consisting of Dr Shahid Rao (Multan), Dr Azeemuddin Zahid (Lahore), Dr Arshad Rana (Rawalpindi), Prof Tufail (Faisalabad), and Dr Qasim Khichi (Bahawalpur) was constituted to examine the ordinance and submit recommendations within a week. Dr Akhtar Rashid Malik, Dr Shahid Malik and Dr Ashraf Nizami will act as coordinators for the committee.