PMA flays govtfor not de-sealing PMDC building

LAHORE:The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) is concerned over the attitude of the government for not de-sealing the PMDC building even “on the strict orders of Islamabad High Court on March 30, 2020.”

“Due to this attitude of the government the regulatory body for registration of doctors and medical education is still non-functional,” said Dr SM Qaisar Sajjad, secretary general of PMA (Centre), in a statement here on Sunday.

On a contempt of court petition moved by the employees of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), a bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani of IHC while hearing the contempt plea for not complying the court orders, gave an hour to the government to open the PMDC building and warned of sending the officials concerned behind bars, said the PMA secretary general, adding that even then only the registrar of PMDC was allowed to visit his office for less than an hour and no employee was allowed to enter the building. The registrar was then forced to leave his office.

After that, the Ministry of Health never allowed Registrar Brig (R) Hafizuddin Ahmed Siddiqui to enter his office by keeping PMDC Head Office in Islamabad closed, the PMA office-bear said.

The registrar, PMDC, on Friday filed a contempt petition against the federal government before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), he said, adding this situation was very unfortunate; it seemed there was no rule of law in the country.

Prime Minister of Pakistan also holds the portfolio of health minister. PMA believes that bureaucracy is misguiding the prime minister which is the only hurdle in restoration of PMDC. Doctors of the country are of the belief that the government of Tehreek-e-Insaf will provide justice to them but, unfortunately, the things are going in the opposite direction, the PMA secretary general said.

He said “We regretfully say that the government is not implementing the decision of the Islamabad High Court and PMDC is not being restored. The head office and regional offices of PMDC are closed. The situation is creating miseries for medical professionals.”

Now at this point doctors are fighting on frontline with coronavirus in Pakistan, but their registration with PMDC has expired, he said, adding that thousands of registration cases were pending. Approximately 15,000 fresh graduates are also waiting for their provisional registration to start their house jobs. These fresh graduates, if given provisional registration, could become part of the medical force fighting against coronavirus. Thousands of qualified postgraduates are also waiting for their registration. Thousands of Pakistani doctors working abroad are also very distressed because they are not getting their renewal of registration and good standing certificate for the continuation of their jobs, Dr SM Qaisar Sajjad said.

He said, “PMA believes that the government should immediately implement the verdict of the Islamabad High Court and open the head office of PMDC, Islamabad and the regional offices in the provinces.”

He said the PMDC Registrar should be allowed to take up his duties with one third of his office staff because of the coronavirus situation, so that day to day issues of medical professionals could be resolved.