ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Federal Minister for Health Mohammad Nasir Khan on Friday said six private medical colleges were running in the country without recognition by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

In a written replay to a question raised by Syed Hidayatullah Shah in the Senate on Friday, the minister provided complete details about the number of private medical college running in the country without recognition by the council.

The minister said the health ministry was contemplating amending the existing PMDC Ordinance, 1962, to empower the government to close down such unrecognised medical colleges.

Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad (MBBS), Independent Medical College, Faisalabad, Al-Huda Medical College, Lahore, University College and Dentistry, lahore (MBBS and BDS), Jinnah Institute of Medical Sciences, Peshawar, and Abbottabad International Medical College, Abbottabad, are the unrecognised private medical colleges, he said.

Replying to another question raised by Mr Shah, the minister said the NWFP government had abolished the self-financing scheme in medical and dental colleges of the province from the session 2004-05.

The self-financing scheme in BMC, Quetta, was started for only one session in 1997-98 but in pursuance of the cabinet decision, the Balochistan government had now withdrawn the scheme with effect from May 21, 1999.

The minister said there was no proposal under consideration by the Sindh government to abolish the self-financing scheme in the medical colleges and universities in the province.

The self-financing scheme in medical education has been considered by the Punjab health department and it has been decided that the scheme should continue.

The Lahore High Court in its April 12, 2005 decision in a writ petition has also upheld the scheme in medical education.

In reply to another question raised by Kulsoom Perveen, the health minister said on the recommendations of the Drug Registration Board, the government had approved a policy of inspection of the manufacturer abroad prior to registering the drugs under the Drugs Act 1979 for import in Pakistan.

Mr Khan said the Drug Registration Board had taken a policy decision that inspection of manufacturing facility of the manufacturer abroad would be conducted at the expense of the applicants and importers prior to registering their drug under the act.

Replying to yet another question raised by Syed Murad Ali Shah, the minister said Rs300 million had been allocated in the budget 2005-06 for prevention and control of hepatitis. Out of this, Rs136 million is meant for treatment of chronic hepatitis.

Replying to another question raised by Fauzia Fakharuz Zaman Khan, the minister said Hepatitis B and C were viral infections mainly contracted through re-use of contaminated syringes, sharps and through un-screened blood.

The consequences of HBV infection depend on age at infection. The risk of an infected person becoming a carrier drops from about 90 per cent in the first six months of life to about 25 per cent by the age of five years and 10 per cent by the age of 15 years.

The government has developed national strategy on prevention and control of hepatitis in the country. “Prime Minister’s Programme for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis” will be implemented during the next five years at a total cost of Rs2.59 billion.”

The key principle components of the programme include, hepatitis B vaccination for high-risk groups, safe blood transfusion and safe blood products, safety of injection and invasive devices and their proper disposal.

In reply to a question raised by Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, the minister said the federal government had established a Thalassaemia Centre at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) which was offering public awareness programme through seminars and media counselling of the relatives of the patients and premarital counselling.

He said the government in collaboration with different NGOs was taking several steps to control the rising incidence of thalassaemia.