LAHORE: The appointment of new members of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) has stirred up a controversy when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ‘for the first time ignored’ Punjab, giving visible dominance to Sindh province in the sole medical regulatory body of the country to take ‘decisions of choice.’

According to the composition of the PMDC, no one from health professionals was taken as member from Punjab, giving major representations to Sindh.

The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (MNHSRC) recently notified new composition of the PMDC after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accorded approval to the fresh nominations.

Out of the total 15 members of the [medical] regulator, the nomination of eight members is the discretion of the prime minister.

No one from five health professionals was taken from largest province

An official said of the eight members, five were to be appointed/nominated from the health professionals and according to the decades-old practice, one each was appointed from four provinces besides a member from the Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

However, he said, this time the PM abolished the membership of Punjab as no one from the five health professionals was taken from the largest province of the country.

The official declared it ‘indifferent’ attitude of the PM towards Punjab claiming that as Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel hailed from Sindh, Shehbaz Shairf [probably] facilitated the PPP, one of the allies, to command majority in the PMDC to get ‘decisions of choice’.

He said it was for the first time that Punjab was kept out of the composition of the PMDC membership ignoring the facts that it was sharing large number of public and private sector medical colleges, universities and registered practitioners.

Sharing official figures in this regard, he said there were total 122 public and private sector medical and dental colleges in Pakistan.

Of them, 63 medical and dental colleges were in Punjab, he said adding that similarly 64 per cent of total 274,994 registered doctors of the country belonged to Punjab.

About the new members (from the health professionals) of the PMDC, he said the PM appointed Prof Amjad Siraj Memon, Prof Rizwan Taj, Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, Dr Mahmud Aurangzeb and Prof Dr Tehmina Asad (dentist).

Of them no one was from Punjab, he said adding that the ‘controversial’ composition of the PMDC has caused resentment among the medical health professionals and bodies.

Following the ‘discriminatory move’ of the federal government, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) called an emergency meeting and lodged a strong protest.

Presided over by Prof Dr Ashraf Nizami, the PMA meeting showed strong reaction and declared it a ‘controversial decision in the history of the council so far.’

Other office-bearers and members of the PMA including Prof Dr Malik Shahid Shaukat, Prof Dr Khalid Mehmood Khan, Dr. Iram Shahzai, Dr. Wajid Ali, Dr. Bushra Haq, Dr. Riaz Zulqarnain Aslam and Dr. Nader Khan also participated in the meeting.

Later, sharing decisions of the meeting, Prof Nizami said the PMA has strongly rejected the new composition of the PMDC wherein the prime minister has given ‘undue’ favour to a province.

In his statement, the PMA president said: “We are going to lodge a strong protest against the federal government’s unwise decision while forming membership of the medical regulatory body.”

He said the PMA has also demanded of the premier and Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to intervene and withdraw the ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘undemocratic’ notification of the PMDC.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023