ISLAMABAD: Health Minis­ter Mustafa Kamal has suggested more medical and dental colleges across Pakistan to save foreign exchange and to accommodate students who opt for a medical degree overseas due to a purported shortage of seats in local colleges.

The minister made these remarks at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, chaired by Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, despite concerns about the mushroom growth of such institutions in the country, even though several of them have been found to fail in meeting regulatory standards.

According to Mr Kamal, 96,000 candidates passed the Medical and Dental Colleges Admis-sion Test (MDCAT), but only 22,000 seats were available in the country.

“[Around] 74,000 were left with no option but to get admissions outside the country. It is a fact that every year $800 million is spent on the admissions and education of medical students who study medicine or dentistry abroad,” he said, adding that the government wanted to accommodate them in Pakistan.

Mustafa Kamal says move can save foreign exchange; claims no shortage of essential medicines

In July this year, the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services expressed serious concern over the large number of medical and dental colleges in Pakistan and asked the relevant quarters to ensure global regulatory standards.

During the meeting, Senator Attaur Rehman said there used to be just a few medical colleges in the past, but now there was such an institute on every corner.

He questioned what kind of criterion was in place to set up a medical college or university. It may be noted that the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) had also sent delegations to ensure the quality of medical education in Pakistan.

During the meeting on Monday, members expressed concern that seats, particularly in dental colleges, remained vacant. Vice chancellors of various universities highlighted that frequent seat switching resulted in wastage of academic years and adversely affected medical and dental institutions. The panel chairman emphasised that the committee had previously allowed time for consultation and sought data on how many seats had remained vacant over the recent years due to the extended validity period.

The committee discussed concerns regarding the 30 per cent discount on medicines provided at parliamentarians’ dispensaries and raised questions about their efficacy and quality. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) CEO informed the committee that sampling reports from Pims and Polyclinic had been prepared and would be shared.

Addressing concerns regarding the winding up of multinational pharmaceutical companies, the minister clarified that these decisions were part of global corporate restructuring, noting that essential medicines, including insulin, were being imported through alternative arrangements and that there was no shortage.

Regarding the HIV/AIDS survey and UNAIDS concerns, the minister announced the formation of a technical working group to investigate issues related to kit availability and testing accuracy, with findings to be submitted to the committee.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2025