Organs transplantation act to be amended: minister

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Khwaja Salman Rafique has said Punjab Human Organs Transplantation Act 2010 would be amended according to the present needs, for this purpose necessary amendments would be incorporated soon. He said draft PHOTA Act 2017 would be presented in the Punjab Assembly for approval.

He stated this while chairing a meeting to discuss the proposed amendments in PHOTA Act 2010 in the committee room of Punjab Health Initiatives Management Company (PHIMC), according to a handout issued here on Wednesday.

It was decided that the new definitions of donor, recipient and the health facility where the transplantation would be performed, will be introduced in the act. For this purpose legal experts are working on the proposed amendments in the PHOTA Act 2010. Detailed deliberations were made on the proposed amendments in the various clauses of the act during the meeting. It was decided that the services of law consultancy firm would be hired and a three member committee would be constituted to monitor and supervise the process for early completion.

Health Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah proposed that a legal cell should also be established in those health facilities registered by the Punjab Healthcare Commission and PHOTA for transplantation. This cell would monitor all the affairs of transplantation from legal point of view. The next meeting to discuss the proposed amendments in PHOTA Act 2010 would be held after a week.

doctors shortage: Secretary Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Najam Ahmad Shah has said that multi-dimensional strategy would be adopted to overcome the shortage of specialist doctors in teaching hospitals and specialised healthcare institutions.

He directed that special steps should be taken to overcome the shortage of specialists in the critical fields. He stated this while chairing a meeting to evaluate the shortage of specialist doctors in the teaching hospitals and specialised healthcare institutions, according to a handout issued here Wednesday.

Special Secretary Health Dr Sajid Mehmood Chohan, Additional Secretary Admin Raja Mansoor, Dean Children Hospital Professor Dr Masood Sadiq, MS Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Dr Fiaz Butt, MS Jinnah Hospital Dr Sohail Saqlain, Executive Director Strategic Management and Internal Policy Unit Professor Ahsan Waheed Rathor, Consultant Ms Aimen Majeed and the officers from Project Management Office Specialised Healthcare Department attended the meeting.

Najam Ahmad Shah directed that all measures should be adopted to fill the gaps of specialist doctors in the hospitals and PGship should be conducted constantly besides increasing the seats for PGship in such specialties where the acute shortage is being faced. He pointed out that the hospitals are facing acute shortage of anaesthetics due to that patients have to wait for operations/procedures for long time. He directed that special attention should be given to produce more and more anaesthetics for resolving the problems of the patients. He also directed that procedural formalities should be completed on fast track for hiring the services of specialist doctors through Locum system.