• Amid proposed merger of regulatory bodies, students wonder if their degrees will remain valid
• Govt urged to reconsider decision amid questions about financial logic of merger

ISLAMABAD: When Arsalan Ali walks into his classroom, he is no longer sure whether the degree he is working towards will exist by the time he graduates.

He is a trained pharmaceutical chemist with an MPhil degree, who used to work in the allopathic drug business. Over time, however, he grew disillusioned with what he describes as the “side effects of modern medicines” and turned instead to traditional healing.

He then enrolled for the Fazil-i-Tibb-wal-Jarahat qualification, hoping to practise Unani medicine.

Fazil-i-Tibb-wal-Jarahat is a government-recognised degree that trains practitioners in Unani medicine, a tradition of healing that has been practised in South Asia and modern-day Central Asia for hundreds of years. It is a healing system that employs herbal remedies to maintain a balance of bodily temperaments, based on Greek, Persian and Arabic influences.

Currently enrolled at a tibb college in Lahore, Ali says recent developments have left students like him questioning whether their education will mean anything, in legal terms.

“I have come to know that new legislation has been proposed, due to which not only will my college be closed in a few years, but there will also be a question mark over my degree and licence to practise,” he told Dawn.

What has changed?

The government has recently instructed colleges not to induct new students from the next academic session, giving rise to fears that the proposed merger of the National Council for Tibb and the National Council for Homoeopathy will lead to the closure of institutions that have trained traditional hakeems for decades and leave thousands of practitioners, many of whom are serving rural and low-income communities, without legal recognition.

Such fears have intensified after the health ministry moved to “right-size” its regulatory bodies through an act of Parliament.

According to college administrators, these fears are not speculative but rooted in official instructions already issued by the government.

Prof Imran Lodhi, principal of Rawalpindi’s Ajmal Tibbia College, explained that traditional medicine operates within a distinct legal and educational framework, which is at risk of being erased by the proposed merger. He said hikmat was practised under Pakistan’s Unani, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners Act, 1965.

“Under the Act, regulatory councils, including the National Council for Tibb and the National Council for Homoeopathy, were established,” he said.

Prof Lodhi said the education pathways for tibb students were well structured and regulated, with at least 40 colleges of hikmat and 140 homoeopathic colleges functioning across the country. Hakeems believe they are the only practitioners consistently working in far-flung regions, noting that MBBS doctors, even those from rural backgrounds, rarely practise in their native areas.

Pakistan Tibbi Alliance General Secretary Hakeem Muhammad Sajjad has formally raised these concerns with the ministries of health and law. In letters, he urged the government to halt consideration of the draft legislation. He said the draft law, titled the National Traditional and Complementary Medicine (NTCAM) Act, 2025, contains serious gaps that could dismantle the sector.

According to him, the proposed changes stem from broader fiscal reforms driven by international commitments.

Last year, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the government planned to abolish 150,000 posts as part of IMF-backed structural benchmarks.

‘Unfortunate’ decision

Hakeem Sajjad from Lahore pointed out that the financial burden of the councils was “minimal” for the government, questioning the logic behind their merger.

Other practitioners warned that the merger could make their practise impossible.

“It is unfortunate that there are so many departments which have been using tens of millions of rupees from the exchequer, were ignored, and two councils, which hardly get any amount from the exchequer, are being merged,” said Hakeem Sarfaraz Bhatti from Gujranwala.

A senior health ministry officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the policy’s risks, but said officials had little room to manoeuvre.

“We know that the decision will create a huge vacuum and administrative issues, but we are helpless. Merging both councils is similar to mixing black tea, coffee and green tea, as their scope and nature of work are different.

“The majority of the basic health units (BHUs) in rural areas lack doctors. So hakeems are providing treatment to the masses. There will be no one to take care of them if colleges are closed,” said Ahmed.

For students like Arsalan Ali, however, the debate remains deeply personal. He says his decision to study tibb was rooted in belief as much as career planning.

He pointed to neighbouring countries where traditional medicine is actively promoted. “...business is not only flourishing in India and China, but they have been earning a huge amount of foreign exchange from it…,” he explained.

‘The last resort’

Patients, too, rely on traditional medicine. Awais Siddique, a Lahore resident, recalled seeking help for his wife after exhausting hospital options.

After his wife was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, the doctors told her that the bone marrow transplant would cost Rs7 to Rs8 million, so turning to a hakeem was the last resort.

“So, I went to a hakeem’s clinic, who prescribed three months of medicine, and just after two weeks, my wife’s platelets reached 150,000,” he claimed. Siddique said the treatment brought “lasting relief”.

According to the Cancer Research Centre UK, there is no scientific evidence that traditional or homoeopathic treatments can prevent or cure any type of cancer.

Amid the increasing pressure, representatives of the Pakistan Medical Alliance met government officials earlier this month.

A delegation, including Hakeem Sajjad, Professor Lodhi, and principals of leading Tibb colleges, held meetings with the Minister of State for Health, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharat, as well as senior officials at the health ministry and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, to discuss the Unani, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners Act, 1965.

A detailed version of this article can be accessed on Dawn.com

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026