ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) would continue to exist as the only means to ensuring uniform standards for all the medical practitioners in the country.

This was stated by Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar, Registrar PMDC while talking to reporters here on Tuesday.

Answering a question about devolution of subject of health to provinces under the 18th Constitution Amendment, he ruled out dissolution of the council saying that as a national standard setting body for medical education and registration authority for all doctors, the PMDC would continue to function.

He welcomed the formation of Punjab Healthcare Commission and informed that similar bodies had been in existence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for a longtime. He further said the step was not aimed at usurpation of power of the council – a federal body having jurisdiction in the whole country – he said he had been assured by the Chairman of the Commission Justice Amir Raza that the commission would respect the Federal Law and would not have anything to do with registration of medical practitioners or their deregistration nor would it have anything to do with medical education or medical and dental colleges in Punjab.

Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar said that PMDC did not have the jurisdiction to register or set standards for small clinics, dispensaries and hospitals and this vacuum had been gracefully filled by the Punjab Healthcare Commission. The Registrar said that it had been agreed between the commission and the PMDC that if there was any complaint of negligence of a healthcare establishment in Punjab it would be referred by the PMDC to the Punjab Healthcare Commission and if there was any complaint of negligence of a practitioner registered with PMDC it would be referred by the commission to the PMDC for further action as per respective laws.

Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar was quite categorical in saying that registration of doctors and setting of standards of accreditation of teaching hospitals and medical colleges fell under the domain of PMDC and this fact had been acknowledged by the Punjab Healthcare Commission and there was no cavil about this.