LAHORE, April 10: The medical institutions affiliated with the University of Health Sciences (UHS) are not accommodating some 321 students of a private medical college despite Supreme Court orders.

On the direction of Supreme Court, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) had asked the UHS four months ago to order its affiliated public and private medical and dental institutions in the country to accommodate 329 students of the Independent Medical College Faisalabad (IMCF). But only CMH Medical College Lahore complied with the order by admitting eight of the students.

The other institutions which are not following the apex court orders are the Punjab Medical College (Faisalabad), Allama Iqbal Medical College (Lahore), Lahore Medical and Dental College, FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry (Lahore), Wah Medical College (Rawalpindi), Rawalpindi Medical College, University Medical College (Faisalabad), Fatimah Jinnah Medical College (Lahore), Islamic International Medical (Rawalpindi), Shifa College of Medicine (Islamabad), Services Institute of Medical Sciences (Lahore), University College of Medicine and Dentistry (Lahore), Foundation University Medical College (Rawalpindi) and Islamabad Medical and Dental College (Islamabad).

According to a PMDC official, the council had written to the UHS affiliated institutions to admit IMCF students by exceeding the council’s seat allocation system not more than five per cent per session. He said the council also asked the UHS and the provincial health secretary to implement the court order in letter and spirit.

The official, however, maintained that the council had enough powers to ‘force’ the government and institutions to implement the decision.

A UHS spokesman said after recognition by the PMDC, the IMCF had applied for UHS affiliation. A UHS team would `soon’ visit the college to check credential of the faculty, infrastructure and other facilities there, he added.

It is pertinent to mention that some heads of the public medical and dental institutions were of the view that admitting the IMCF students would create problems for them.