iSLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of the rising cases of breast cancer among women and ordered the provision of mammography facilities in all hospitals run by the federal and provincial governments.

The notice was taken during a suo motu hearing of a case relating to the practice of implanting spurious or substandard stents on heart patients at exorbitant prices.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, summoned the federal and provincial health secretaries to appear in person before the court when the case would be taken up again after a month.

The health secretaries are required to furnish a comprehensive report on provision of mammography facilities in hospitals that come under their jurisdiction.

Orders provision of mammography facilities in public hospitals; CJP meets Punjab bar members

During the hearing, the apex court regretted that public hospitals lacked facilities to diagnose or treat breast cancer, adding that women comprise 50 per cent of the country’s population, but majority of them cannot afford to get the ailment treated from private sector hospitals due to prohibitive charges.

The court asked for ensuring privacy at public hospitals for women who come for treatment of the disease and emphasised the need for devising a mechanism to include women experts in the team of specialists.

The notice was taken on reports that 40,000 women die of cancer annually in Pakistan as the incidence of breast cancer in the country is the highest among countries in Asia.

One out of every nine women in Pakistan faces risk of the disease, while the prevalence of this deadly ailment is the highest amongst all types of cancer in the country i.e. 38.5pc, according to a report prepared by the Pink Ribbon Campaign.

The report said that recent trends in Pakistan showed that the incidence of breast cancer was alarmingly high among young women.

CJ meets bar council delegation

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday held a meeting with a delegation of the Punjab Bar Council, led by its vice chairman Farhan Shahzad, and observed that the tedious task of dispensation of justice was entrusted upon the institution of judiciary which could not be fulfilled without proper assistance of the bar.

Therefore, he said, both the bench and the bar should work hard for dispensation of justice so that aggrieved parties could get prompt relief. Being a part of the same system, the bench and the bar had a close nexus, the CJP said, adding that was why he visits bar associations whenever invited.

The chief justice, however, regretted the trend of strikes by bar associations on petty grounds. It not only affects court business as most of the cases are adjourned, but also causes despondency among litigants and brings bad name to the institution. “This practice needs to be discouraged to uphold dignity, integrity, respect, honour and sanctity of the profession and institution,” he observed.

The bar members informed the CJP that the practice of strikes had been discouraged up to 95 per cent in Punjab. They discussed with the chief justice the issue of faulty investigation in the criminal justice system. The CJP told them the issue would be discussed at the forum of Police Reforms Committee in its forthcoming meeting.

The delegation members said the Punjab Bar Council being a regulatory body had enhanced the internal accountability system and disciplinary action had been taken against lawyers on account of misconduct, but their appeals were still pending with disciplinary tribunals which were not effectively functioning.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2021