The delega
tion of P
akistan
Medical Associa
tion (PMA) Islamabad on Friday met with Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah and appealed to repeal the P
akistan
Medical Commission (PMC) Act, 2020, and restore the P
akistan
Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Act 2012.
In a meeting with the minister, the delega
tion of PMA led by President PMA Dr. Akhtar Ali Bandesha and General Secretary Dr. Mubashar Mushtaq Daha expressed the hope that all genuine demands of doctors will be considered by the present government and revise the PMC and MTI laws.
The delega
tion appealed to the minister to restore the old service structure and experience-based promo
tion policy for doctors in the federal and provincial hospitals.
The delega
tion also asked to make the health allowance of doctors as per their basic salaries as such policy was being implemented in other government organizations.
Dr. Bandesha said that the Federal
Medical Teaching Institu
tion (FMTI) Act, 2021, which was introduced by the past government aimed at promoting nepotism and favoritism.
He added this act has damaged the service structure of doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff besides increasing difficultie
s for patients.
During the meeting, the matter of the National Licensing Examina
tion (NLE) was also discussed besides a detailed discussion on the categoriza
tion system of government and private medical colleges by PMC.
He said that the PMC should start the old final registra
tion system after house job
s for doctors instead of the prevailing
faulty National Licensing Exam (NLE), which is now mandatory for medical students.
The delega
tion also discussed the matter of centralized MDCAT examina
tion for admission in medical colleges all over P
akistan and increased minimum merit up to 65%. The delega
tion demanded the minister for full autonomy to the province
s for admission to medical colleges.
The PMA president demanded of the minister to cancel the policy of having a minimum of 65% mark
s for appearing in the MDCAT test and start holding this test at the provincial level.
During the meeting, the issue of overseas seats in medical colleges all over the P
akistan and recogni
tion of medical colleges in Kyrgyzstan was also discussed besides accredita
tion of all hospitals and medical colleges which are already accredited with CPSP.
The delega
tion expressed its concerns over the Federal
Medical Teaching Institu
tion (FMTI) Act, implemented in the P
akistan Institute of
Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, and appointments made through this FMTI Act.
Khursheed Shah assured the delega
tion that the present government will repeal the P
akistan
Medical Commission (PMC) Act, 2020, and restore the P
akistan
Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Act 2012 besides the restora
tion of the previous status of PIMS after repealing the FMTI Act.
He said that the coali
tion partners will fully support this move of the P
akistan Peoples Party as these are the genuine demands of the medical practitioners. PPP will continue its effort
s for the betterment of medical professionals and improve the healthcare system of the country to ensure better health service
s for the people. The meeting was attended by representatives of the PMA including Dr. Syed Abid Shah, Prof Dr. Imran Sikandar, Prof Dr. Mian Rasheed, Dr. Riaz Shahbaz Janjua, and Prof Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan.