Sindh health minister demands immediate restoration of PMDC

Terming the establishment of the Pakistan Medical Commission by the federal government an “unwise and undemocratic step”, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho has demanded the restoration of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

“The creation of the Pakistan Medical Commission is an unwise and undemocratic step by Prime Minister Imran Khan. In democracy, such autocratic decisions are not taken. Most of the members of the PMC are from Punjab. We demand immediate restoration of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC),” she said while talking to newsmen after inaugurating several facilities at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi.

Dr Pechuho inaugurated the new administration block, an educational and career centre, a Dow Online Information Centre and some other facilities at the health varsity. She hoped that the newly established facilities would improve the environment of learning at the

varsity.

The health minister maintained that in the newly established medical commission, all the powers were with the prime minister. She added that after the creation of the new regulatory body, students from other provinces would be able to get admissions to Sindh’s medical colleges, who would go back to their own provinces instead of serving in Sindh, thus creating a serious shortage of doctors in the province.

The provincial minister also hinted at extending the duration of the ongoing typhoid vaccination drive in Sindh, saying that at the moment school-going children were being vaccinated against typhoid, but in order to reach the maximum number of children and achieve positive results, the drive would continue in the province.

“the duration of the typhoid vaccination drive, which is underway from November 18 till 30, 2019, can be extended in order to achieve the desired target, as at the moment, only school-going children are being vaccinated.”

Dr Pechuho added that the typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) is a safe vaccine, which is being given to the children to protect them from the waterborne disease.

Lauding the newly-established facilities at the varsity, she maintained that with the help of online education system, not only facility of distant learning would be provided to students in far flung areas but also the awareness and preventive measures regarding dengue and other diseases would be disseminated among people in the province.

She said there was a time when patients suffering from viral hepatitis and other diseases used to travel to Karachi for treatment, but with the use of latest technology and training of doctors in the interior of Sindh, now such patients were being provided treatment closer to their homes.

Vice Chancellor DUHS Prof Saeed Quraishy said that the Dow varsity was moving in the right direction to become a modern and dynamic varsity. He added that they were hopeful of raising the standard of medical education at the DUHS to that of the top medical varsities of the world.

Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Zarnaz Wahid and Principal Dow Medical College Prof Amjad Siraj Memon also spoke, while Prof Kartar Dawani and others were also present.