ISLAMABAD: The abrupt changes in the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council have caused concerns in the medical community, which sees the removal of the PMDC registrar and appointment of a new member of the executive council as an attempt by the health ministry to ‘pressurise’ the council to do its bidding.

Over the past few days, the PDMC registrar was removed and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Health director general was co-opted as a member of the executive council in place of Prof Dr Usman Mehboob of the Khyber Medical University, Peshawar.

A notification issued by the PMDC President Prof Dr Rizwan Taj stated that KP health DG Dr Shaukat Ali has been co-opted as a member of the executive committee till further orders in place of Prof Dr Usman Mehboob of Khyber Medical University Peshawar.

Interestingly, the PMDC registrar, Azhar Ali Shah, who served as a registrar three times in the past, has been replaced with an officer who has been already involved in litigation with the council.

Registrar removed; DG health KP appointed as executive council member

It is worth mentioning that in June this year, the executive council of the PMDC took notice of the major embezzlements of the erstwhile Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) and announced to hold the responsible parties accountable and implement measures to prevent future incidents.

While the health fraternity has been linking the changes due to the alleged interference of the ministry, an official of the PMDC said that they were facing “severe pressure” for the accreditation of three medical colleges which were registered by the defunct PMC but the PMDC decided to hold their inspections again, as they were inspected by the employees of the PMC instead of independent faculty members.

“All three colleges – two are in Punjab and one is in KP – are eager to start admissions and for that, they need a go-ahead from the PMDC. On the other hand, the ministry has been pressurising us for the accreditation and uploading it on the official website,” he claimed.

He said that it was strange that the KP health DG replaced Prof Dr Usman Mehboob, who was not even a part of the executive committee and was never invited to its meetings.

The health ministry media coordinator refused to comment whereas the ministry’s secretary Dr Iftikhar Shalwani did not attend the call.

A text message was sent to the secretary but he did not reply till the filing of this story.

It is worth mentioning that in October 2019, President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance, dissolving the PMDC to replace it with the PMC. The ordinance was converted into an act of parliament amid a controversy over the appointment of then-PM Imran Khan’s cousin Dr Nosherwan Barki as its unannounced head.

In August 2022, then-premier Shehbaz Sharif withdrew the nomination of seven out of nine members and then nominated seven new members. Later, a bill to repeal the PMC and restore the PMDC was passed by parliament. However, President Alvi sent the bill for reconsideration. The parliament in December 2022 passed the bill again in a joint sitting.

In January 2023, President Alvi approved PMDC Bill 2022, making it an act of parliament. In April, Dr Rizwan Taj became the president of the PMDC.

Health minister in New York

Meanwhile, a 16-member delegation of the American Pakistan Public Affairs Committee led by Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly Phil Ramos met caretaker Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan. The meeting discussed in detail the promotion of mutual cooperation in the health sector.

According to a statement, a detailed discussion was held on providing trained nurses, pharmacists, technicians and physiotherapists from Pakistan to New York State. “Human resources are needed in the medical field in New York State,” said Mr Ramos.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2023