KARACHI, April 29: The Pakistan Medical Association has condemned the forced leave given to Dr Sohail Karim Hashmi from Pakistan Medical and Dental Council after a resolution passed in the Senate.

Dr Hashmi, secretary of the council, was directly responsible for elimination of corruption from the PMDC and he refused to play in the hands of private medical college owners association, PMA Secretary General Dr Shershah Syed said in a statement on Friday.

He said, “The PMA believes that the PMDC should be allowed to work as an autonomous, independent and strong body which can work without fear and corruption. In the last 30 years, the PMDC was controlled by the government bureaucrats and the owners of private medical colleges. This resulted in total destruction of medical education in the country,” he said.

Dr Syed said that the PMA demanded complete transparency in affairs of the PMDC, and believed that the PMDC should be run according to its constitution and by-laws without interference from bureaucrats, politicians and vested interest groups. —PPI