KARACHI, Jan 24: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has demanded autonomous status for the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) in order to improve standard of medical and dental education in country.

Speaking at a press conference at the PMA House here on Monday, leaders of the association urged the government to immediately stop interference in the affairs of the council and let it work freely.

PMA office-bearers Dr Sher Shah Syed, Dr Haseeb Alam, Dr Qaiser Sajjad, Prof Tipu Sultan and Dr Aziz Khan Tank said that it was due to the interference by certain quarters in the PMDC affairs over the past 35 years that the council had been recognizing a number of medical and dental colleges which were functioning in apartments and small bungalows and producing quacks.

Moreover, MBBS degree- holders were being denied recognition abroad, they added. They observed that medical education, as well as training, was facing a challenge these days but the PMDC, which was meant for monitoring the situation, was being rendered ineffective.

They suggested that a uniform policy be introduced for both public and private medical and dental colleges, adding that the health department should not resort to interfering in the PMDC affairs.

The PMA leaders also proposed that the membership of the council be limited to 20-25 instead of the present 52. They demanded that the recognized private colleges, besides general physicians, be given representation on the PMDC.

They condemned the remarks by the head of the Higher Education Commission regarding the HEC's control of the PMDC. The PMDC should start inspection of colleges and the institutions delivering low-quality education be stripped of its recognition, they said.

They demanded that the council should also take notice of the exorbitant fees being charged from patients by private practitioners and take appropriate action against those hospitals where patients would die due to negligence.

The PMA leaders also demanded that no doctor coming from abroad be allowed to perform any operation or offer consultation without obtaining a prior permission or provisional registration from the PMDC.

They urged the government to ensure protection to Dr Shazia and her family and accelerate the process of judicial inquiry into her ordeal. Referring to the reports of threats from certain tribal chieftains who were bent upon getting her killed as a 'Kari', the PMA leaders demanded arrest of all those tribal leaders who had participated in the jirga at which the decree was announced. -PPI