PMDC tells medical colleges to set up five primary healthcare centres in their vicinity

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has directed all the private and public medical and dental colleges across the country to establish primary healthcare (PHC) centres, under which every medical and dental college would compulsorily establish five PHC centres within 10 kilometres.

In this regard, the PMDC has written letters to all medical and dental colleges, which read that in a meeting of the council on September 19, it was decided that the council would play an active role in strengthening PHC centres in the country through taking appropriate actions to embed PHC education, training and services in medical and dental colleges.

For this, the PMDC would establish a family medicine and PHC expert committee to develop the scope and curriculum to be implemented by the medical and dental colleges.

The council would move in this direction by making it mandatory for all the recognised medical and dental colleges to establish or adopt up to five PHC facilities in their vicinity within 10 kilometres. To begin, the council would invite volunteer medical and dental colleges to start this programme.

These PHC centres would be developed as teaching facilities by implementing best practices in order to deliver integrated preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative health services.

Accordingly, medical and dental colleges would introduce the subject of family medicine and PHC in accordance with the curriculum developed by the PMDC and recruit appropriate faculty.