ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The health ministry has sent the Public and Private Hospitals, Clinics, Laboratories and Maternity Homes (Regulation and Control) Bill 2007 and the Traditional Medicine Bill to the federal cabinet for approval.

Speaking at a media conference here on Tuesday, Federal Health Minister Nasir Khan said under the proposed law a licensing authority would be established, which would grant licenses for establishment of health institutions after compliance of certain requirements.

The jurisdiction of the proposed law has been limited to the Islamabad Capital Territory.

The minister said the Traditional Medicine Bill would deal with the widespread problem of quackery in the country.

Mr Khan defended the Human Organs Transplant Ordinance, recently approved by the cabinet, as a balanced law for curbing the trade of human organs.

He conceded that lobbies involved in the organs trade had been hindering the law.

The ordinance has been under criticism from the medical circles that believe that it is deficient and wouldn’t be able to stop the trade because of inherent flaws. The medical circles rather say the ordinance would provide legal cover to the commercial dealings in human organs.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the minister said, has approved a grant of $56 million for prevention of tuberculosis in Pakistan.

Similarly, he said, a World Bank loan of $87 million for the purchase of polio vaccine for Pakistan has been paid by the Gates Foundation ($42 million) and the UN Foundation and the Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, ($45 million) relieving the country of the huge debt.

The Pakistan Medical Research Council used the occasion to announce that it had developed two kits for the diabetic patients – HBA1C and Micro-Albumen Urea Kits.

The former gives an overview of diabetes control by a patient for 3 months, while the latter can be used to assess chances of kidney failure in diabetic patients.