KARACHI: Expressing concern over the affairs of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) members at an online meeting held on Friday asked the prime minister to let the council work as an autonomous body and save the future of medical education and health delivery system in Pakistan.

They also called upon the government not to change the name of the regulatory body because ‘internatio-nally Pakistani doctors are known by PMDC and such an action would negatively affect thousands of doctors working abroad’.

The meeting presided over by PMA centre president Dr Ikram Ahmed Tunio was attended by PMA office-bearers across Pakistan. They included Dr Salma Aslam Kundi, president-elect PMA centre, Dr Ashraf Nizami, former PMA centre president, Dr Amir Saleem, joint secretary of PMA Centre, Dr Saeed Ahmed, joint secretary of PMA centre, Dr Kamran Ahmed, general secretary of PMA Punjab, Dr Shahid Shaukat Malik, general secretary of PMA Lahore.

Sharing reservations over the PMDC affairs, members regretted reports that the government would soon present draft bills on the Pakistan Medical Commission and Medical tribunal in a joint parliamentary session and vowed that any move against the PMDC would be strongly opposed.

Participants in the meeting were of the view that the doctors registered with the PMDC would face problems and their memberships and jobs would be at stake, if PMC was established.

Doctors’ recognition with international institutions such as the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA) and the World Federation of Medical Education was through PMDC which would suffer.

Secretary general of PMA-centre Dr S.M. Qaisar Sajjad informed the meeting participants that the association had conveyed doctors’ concerns over the matter to the prime minister through a letter which highlighted that the Islamabad High Court had dissolved the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) and declared it illegal and unlawful.

Participants were of the opinion that both the PMC and the medical tribunal had many flaws and would be disastrous not only for the doctors’ fraternity, but also for medical education and healthcare of the country.

Members also took stock of the Covid-19 situation in the country and suggested to the government to increase its testing capacity to get a real picture of the situation.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2020