The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) informed the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services on Tuesday that a three-year ban has been imposed on the registration of new medical colleges because of a shortage of teaching faculty.
The committee, which met here with Senator Aamir Waleeduddin in the chair, discussed the PMDC Amendment Bill moved by Senator Humayun Mohmand. The bill proposed to include parliamentarians in the PMDC board. However, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal opposed the proposal.
PMDC President Dr Rizwan Taj said that parliamentarians had never been part of the board, but the chair corrected him, stating that a senator and a MNA used to sit on the board.
Irfan Siddiqui said that the inclusion of political people would not change the institution's structure.
Mustafa Kamal told the committee that even he, as the health minister, was not part of the PMDC board.
He maintained that Pakistan's medical professionals were still respected globally, and political involvement could undermine their reputation.
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