Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday visited the Nishtar Hospital Multan and directed the health secretary to initiate strict departmental action against Nishtar Medical University Multan Vice Chancellor Mehnaz Khakwani, MS Dr Mohammad Kazim Khan, head of the nephrology department, and five other medics and other staff after multiple inquiry reports confirmed outbreak of the HIV/AIDs led to transmission of the virus to 25 patients.

The CM also directed Punjab health secretary Azmat Mahmood to move a case to the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council to get the licences of the medics involved in this regard suspended.

Two lady doctors were also among those who were facing action besides official in charge of the nursing section of the nephrology department and a male registrar.

There were reports that the CM wants the removal of all officers found guilty from their positions when the inquiry reports pointed out that the record of the patients tested positive for HIV/AIDs was also tampered with in an attempt to dodge the higher authorities.

Move follows inquiry reports about outbreak of HIV/AIDs leading to virus transmission to 25 patients

Declaring it a criminal negligence, the inquiry reports had recommended tough actions against the senior management and other medics.

An official privy to the CM’s visit to the hospital said that Ms Nawaz reached the office of NMU VC at noon and called all relevant officers found guilty of the charges in four separate investigations/inquiries carried out by relevant agencies and departments.

He said the findings of the inquiries were furnished in the meeting and the CM told them about the gross negligence and blunders committed by them before, during and after the dialysis of the kidney failure patients who visited the nephrology department of the hospital.

Quoting the findings of the inquiries, she expressed utter displeasure and reprimanded them, saying the first patient tested positive for HIV/AIDs on Oct 11 and then second on Oct 26. The hospital management avoided investigations of the first case and acted only when the second one surfaced the same month, she said.

The official said that the chief minister again reprimanded them when she quoted the inquiries that found the top management of the institute allegedly tampered with the record when it came to know that the virus had been transmitted in many patients due to negligence.

‘Fake’ lab reports

The officials found guilty of the charges managed to get ‘fake reports’ of the affected patients from private labs to mislead the authorities, the CM said.

When the chief minister asked the Nishtar institute principal present in the meeting to explain his position, the latter said he had nothing to do with the entire matter as his position had no power even to transfer a clerk.

During the meeting, Ms Nawaz revealed that a senior representative of the Multan chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association had played a ‘dirty role’ when he exerted pressure on the relevant staff for tampering with the record of the HIV/AIDs patients.

He was also faculty member of the NMU, the CM said, adding that all those who were found guilty of the charges/negligence in the outbreak of the HIV/AIDs would have to face dire consequences. She directed the health secretary to initiate departmental action against all of them and also get their licences cancelled from the PMDC.

Explaining the true spirit of the CM’s action, the official said that the CM had no mandate to remove or suspend the NMU VC being a constitutional post. He said even the Punjab governor, the chancellor of the universities, could not remove or suspend the VC. According to him, it can be done only when the vice chancellor herself would resign from the post.

About others, the official said that the Punjab government was authorised to remove or suspend all other guilty officers as per the laid-down rules and regulations.

There were reports that the health department had issued an order for the suspension/removal of some of the medics, while it emerged late night that a case has been processed to initiate action against the VC.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024