QUETTA, Dec 27: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has rejected the health policy of the federal government and termed it 'beneficial only to the privileged class'.

The newly elected president of the PMA, Dr Omar Ayub Khan, said that the policy was not meant for poor people, as they were not getting any medical facility under it. Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the 26th PMA biennial medical conference, he suggested various steps for improving the health sector.

The government should protect the rights of patients through proper legislation in order to safeguard innocent people, he said, adding that there was a need to include medical ethics in the medical curriculum and it was important to teach religion and its impact on the practice of medicine.

Dr Khan said the government should strictly implement the law of safe blood transfusion in hospitals. He said the government had deprived poor people of bypass surgery and other operations in the name of user chargers that were being received from the patients. He said that majority of the patients were poor and could not pay the charges.

The PMA president said that various medical institutions were not taking care of the educational standard and were producing quacks. He said that Pakistan Medical and Dental Council should play its role effectively in providing quality medical education and monitor the performance of the colleges, especially private medical collages.

Medical curriculum should be changed and continuous medical education programme should be launched for practicing doctors and the PMA should be given representation in the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.