APPNA role in health policy-making, PMDC, Drap opposed

KARACHI: The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA) has come under severe criticism by local health healthcare professionals and authorities for demanding role in health policy making and their representation in the regulatory bodies like Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

A large delegation of APPNA office-bearers and members led-by its President Dr. Arshad Rehan is currently on visit to Pakistan and lobbying for their representation in the medical education and drug regulatory authorities as well as role in the healthcare policy making while they are also influencing authorities for elevating some medical colleges to the status of medical universities.

On their demands, the caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar had expressed his willingness to give representation to APPNA in PMDC and DRAP, saying he was in favour of APPNA’s representation in both the regulatory bodies and had passed the directives in this but also highlighted some legislative challenges faced by the interim government in this regard.

“In principle, I’m for it, particularly DRAP and PMDC both. Here a lot of individuals with conflict of interest do occupy such positions and they do violate the professional proficiency which is required for the healthcare system or education for that matter”, PM Kakar had told a gathering of healthcare professionals and visiting APPNA office-bearers in Peshawar a few days back.

But the Ministry of Health officials when approached claimed that demands by the APPNA for permanent representation in the PMDC and DRAP were ‘illegal and illogical’ as legislation was required to amend the existing laws while there could be reservations over allowing people with ‘dual nationalities’ to serve at the health regulatory bodies.

“It is not possible to give representation to American doctors or the office-bearers of the APPNA or any other association of Pakistani diaspora at the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council or the Policy Board of DRAP.

These are sensitive regulatory authorities which are working under acts of the Parliament and would require legislation to expand representation in their councils and boards”, a senior official of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) told The News on Tuesday.

The senior Health Ministry official, who requested anonymity, said APPNA had not made any financial or technical contribution to the medical education and medicine sectors, for which it should be granted representation on the councils and boards of both the regulatory authorities and said there were also legal hitches in giving representation to foreign nationals to these regulatory bodies.

At the same time, vice chancellors of medical universities, principals of medical colleges and people associated with pharmaceutical sector also expressed their annoyance over APPNA’s efforts for their representation in the Pakistani health policy institutions, saying people on ‘tax break’ from United States were now trying to influence medical education and medicine sector for their vested interests.

“These tourists with zero contribution to medical education and healthcare sector in Pakistan want their role in Pakistan’s policy making although they have no stakes in this country.

They earn and spend in the US, pay taxes there and in order to have tax breaks, they visit Pakistan on annual vacations”, vice chancellor of a medical University in Lahore said.

Several other healthcare professionals also criticized APPNA for trying to influence health policy making in Pakistan and demanded not to bow to the demands of visiting healthcare professionals, who had not made any contribution to the healthcare sector in Pakistan.

But APPNA President Dr. Arshad Rehan refuted all allegations against them, saying APPNA was one of the largest organizations of Pakistani professionals working since 1978 and last year, it financed construction of 1000 homes after devastation floods in Sindh and Balochistan while so far, it had donated over 5000 corneas to Pakistan while even the cost of corneal transplants is borne by the association.

“Our subsidiaries give hundreds of scholarships to medical students in Pakistan, alumni of Nishtar medical college has constructed a complete block in their hospital.

In floods of 2010, we donated over a million US dollars, we contributed financially for IDPs help. We even raise funds for disasters in Islamic countries around the world. We are ambassadors of Pakistan in the entire Islamic world”, Dr. Arshad Rehan claimed.

He said Pakistan’s healthcare system was in tatters and being Pakistanis, APPNA members wanted to play their role in improving medical education and medicine sectors and claimed that they had no ‘vested interests’ in Pakistan.

Regarding tax breaks, he said when they make some donation, they get some ‘tax break’ but added that it is not as much as being portrayed by their opponents and advised local doctors to pay taxes and also make donations so that they could also get tax breaks.

“During Covid-19 pandemic, our doctors served Pakistani healthcare system for months without charging even a single penny”, he added.

He claimed that their representation in PMDC and DRAP could improve the functioning of both these institutions as they had experience and expertise of working with international regulatory authorities.

Regarding lobbying for converting two KP colleges into medical universities, he said this was long overdue as other provinces had several medical universities while KP had only medical university and asked the opponents of medical universities to refrain from misleading people.