LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has rejected the Millennium Delivery Standards and Patient Care Bill prepared by the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHA), claiming that they were not consulted on it.
Talking to reporters at a press conference after a central council meeting, PMA office bearers said that the bill had been prepared without involving all stakeholders. They said that the PMA would hold a convention in Lahore after Ramazan to finalise its strategy about the bill.
“The PMA wants the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister to remove illegally-appointed officials in PHC to put the matters on the right track,” the office bearers said.
Participants of the meeting also condemned the rise in incidents of doctors’ kidnapping. “The government has failed to maintain law and order. If matters remain the same, we will start a national-level campaign against the government,” the PMA members said.
The meeting also criticised the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). “A mafia in the council is blackmailing the government,” the PMA officials said. They appealed to the prime minister to take “personal interest” in the matters of the PMDC.
The meeting also decided to hold an international conference on health from November 7 to 9 in Lahore.
PMA Punjab President Dr Ashraf Nizami, PMA General Secretary Dr Izhar Chaudhry, PMA Lahore President Dr Tanvir Anwar, PMA Central President Dr Muhammad Azhar Jadoon, PMA Central General Secretary Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, PMA Central Treasurer Dr Qaiser Sajjad and PMA Central Joint Secretary Dr Malik Shahid Shaukat attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2014.