LAHORE, Feb 20: The Pakistan and Medical Dental Council (PMDC) will finalise the recognition of 20 or so private medical and dental institutions in the country by mid of August this year.

“We will consult all stakeholders before deciding the future of (unrecognised) private medical and dental colleges,” PMDC President Prof Sibtul Hasnain told Dawn here on Tuesday.

He said the PMDC did not want substandard medical institutions in the country, but it would provide time to such institutions to improve their quality of education and ensure provision of required facilities.

He added that keeping in view a low doctor-patient ratio in the country, the council wanted to encourage the private sector to produce more doctors.

He said that he would concentrate on establishing the writ of the PMDC, resolving contentious issues and ending litigation against the council.

He said that he would make financial matters of the council transparent and the performance of its employees would be assessed regularly.

Prof Hasnain, who is also Allama Iqbal Medical College principal and Jinnah Hospital’s chief executive, said the council would also inspect public medical and dental institutions and would not spare their heads for not maintaining standard of quality education. He said that he would take appropriate measures to eliminate degree equivalence matters.

Hasnain said that the council would form a committee to look into the objections raised by a Prime Minister’s Commission. He rejected the commission’s recommendations that the president and vice-president of the council should be available full time in Islamabad, saying that the suggestion was against the norms of democracy and difficult to implement.

The prime minister’s commission, headed by Sindh High Court’s Justice Amir Hani, had proposed that in the future the PMDC should decide the issue of recognition within four months from the date it receives an application from a medical or dental institution.

“The council shall furnish its recommendations to the federal government in this regard and if the government fails to decide the recommendations of the council within two months of the date of the receipt of the report, it will be deemed that recommendations have been accepted,” it proposed.

It said: “No institution, which is not recognised and has applied for recognition, will be allowed to function unless the procedure provided in the ordinance followed by it and the federal government has notified such institution as recognised under the first or fifth schedule.”

“If the federal government receives a report from the council that an institution does not fulfil the prescribed conditions, it may withdraw the recognition. Whoever runs or establishes any institution for imparting education in medicine or dentistry which is not recognised under section 22-A or in respect of which recognition has been withdrawn under section 22-B shall be guilty of an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and not less than two years or a fine of Rs10 million but shall not be less than Rs5 million or with both and also shall be liable to closure of such institution.”