LAHORE: The health department has so far extended the three-month additional charge of the office of Punjab Human Organ Transplant Authority (PHOTA) director general, given to a senior doctor, for sixth term, ignoring the Act of the authority which details procedure to make regular appointment of the head of the body regulating organ transplant across the province.

The senior doctor was last time given the additional charge of the post for another three-month term on April 26, 2024, which is to expire on July 26, while the health department has yet to initiate the process for making regular appointment against the slot.

The decision of repeatedly granting extensions of the charge to an officer has generated controversy over the legal process as the clause 3 of the PHOTA Act makes it mandatory for the authorities concerned to make appointment of its regular head.

“The monitoring authority shall appoint an administrator, preferably from the medical profession, in consultation with the government and also appoint such other officers as may be required on terms and conditions determined by it to carry out the day-to-day business of the authority for which the government shall provide a reasonable annual grant”, reads the Act.

An official privy to the development says the word ‘shall’, as mentioned in the Act, has made it legally binding for the competent authorities to fill the top slot as per the given terms and conditions, keeping in view the sensitivity of the assignment.

However, he says, the provincial health authorities concerned have been violating the Act since January, 2023 and are running the important regulatory body through ‘additional charge’ since then, ignoring the strong criticism and the allegations of ‘favourtitsm’.

He says that several other violations and ambiguities have also been pointed out in granting the sixth extension to Dr Shahzad Anwar as PHOTA DG.

He says the Punjab health department’s own rules and policies also discourage the practice of giving additional charge of a post for more than six months or so.

A notification issued in this respect by the Punjab Finance Department on March 17, 1988, available on the department’s website, clearly defines the matter of giving additional charge to discourage favourtism.

It states that where the distribution of the work is not possible, additional charge of the vacant post may be given initially for a period of three months by the competent authority, and it may be extended for another three months in consultation with the Finance Department. “Immediately, on the expiry of the six months of the additional charge of the particular vacant post, the post shall be treated as having been abolished”, reads the notification.

It adds that the post so treated as abolished shall not be revived without the prior concurrence of the Finance Department. Thus, the notification, makes the legal status of the current PHOTA DG controversial, the official says.

Unfortunately, the official says, an influential group in the health department was not only reportedly violating the P-HOTA law in the posting of regular administrator, but also halted the process to hinder appointment of a regular head as per the Act.

The “group” has twice postponed the process of regular appointment of the PHOTA administrator during the ad hoc tenure of Prof Shahzad despite issuance of advertisement of the post, he says.

He says Prof Shahzad has been occupying the PHOTA top slot since Jan 2023 is also head of the Services Hospital Lahore’s urology department despite “conflict of interest” involved, as he was supposed to be regulated by the authority to check any irregularity in the kidney transplant procedures.Reports suggested that not a single kidney transplant was carried out in the urology department headed by Prof Anwar Shahzad at the Services Hospital since he assumed the additional charge of the PHOTA top post.

He added the licence awarded to the Services Hospital urology department had been suspended and the process for its renewal was lying pending.

He said PHOTA head was tasked with checking illegal organ transplant rackets across Punjab, which has witnessed a sharp surge in the illegal organ transplant during the last one year or so.

The official said that Prof Shahazad was first given additional charge of the PHOTA head in Jan 23, 2023 for a term of three month, which was extended for another term in April the same year.

He got another extension on July 21, and as it expired the department renewed it on Oct 26. The department issued another notification of his extension on Jan 26, which was extended for the sixth time on April 26, 2024 “till the arrival of the regular incumbent”.

Responding to the “conflict of interest” accusation, Prof Shahzad Anwar told Dawn, “As PHOTA, I can’t perform [any] transplant [procedure].”

Regarding the holding of Services Hospital’s urology department head post, he said, “We are providing maximum urology services, while revamping [of the hospital] is still not allowing us to work at our full capacity.” He added that only one operation theatre was made available, that too on Friday last, due to the recently launched revamping programme.

“I am working on both posts with my maximum capacity and [I have] tried my best not to compromise any health services,” Prof Shahzad said, adding that even during his summer vacation, he was going to the Services Hospital to perform surgeries.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2024