ISLAMABAD: Dr Rizwan Taj, a psychiatrist by profession, has become the president of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

Despite an off day on Saturday, members of the council gathered at the PMDC and held a meeting in which they vowed to work for the betterment of the medical sector.

Ministry of National Health Services (NHS)’s spokesman Sajid Shah while talking to Dawn confirmed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had given approval to the appointment of Dr Taj as the PMDC president.

On April 11, eight members of the PMDC were notified, making it functional. The members were notified by the Ministry of NHS after the approval of the prime minister, according to a notification available with Dawn.

The appointments have been made for four years on the recommendations of a search committee.

Under the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Act 2022, the PMDC has 15 members. Eight of them are appointed at the prime minister’s discretion. Among them, five should be medical practitioners, one lawyer or an ex-high court judge, one philanthropist and one a chartered accountant.

According to the notification, the five members nominated under the category of medical practitioners were: Prof Amjad Siraj Memon, Prof Rizwan Taj, Mohammad Zubair Khan, Dr Mahmud Aurangzeb and Prof Dr Tehmina Asad.

Jawad Amin Khan was appointed in the category of philanthropist while Chaudhry Sultan Mansoor and Noorul Haque were appointed in the legal and chartered accountant categories, respectively.

The remaining seven members include the army’s surgeon general, NHS secretary, health secretaries of the four provinces and one member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.

Earlier, the government had abolished the Pakistan Medical Commission established by the PTI government and restored the PMDC. Earlier this year, PMC ceased to exist after President Arif Alvi assented to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Bill 2022. The bill was passed by parliament in December 2022.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2023