Rallying for change: Doctors decry PMDC’s ‘corrupt practices’

Office bearers of the association warn of approaching courts if PMDC president is not removed.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has alleged that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) is involved in blatant corruption, claiming that the latter body’s president and vice-chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Prof Masood Hameed Khan, is illegally occupying his posts.

“A VC of any university can’t hold the seat for a third consecutive term, according to the Universities’ Bill passed by the Sindh Assembly in 2013,” claimed PMA’s general secretary Dr Mirza Ali Azhar. “It is an illegal act and the PMA will not tolerate such practices which also contradict the Supreme Court’s orders.”



Addressing a press conference at PMA House on Monday, office bearers of the PMA, including Dr Azhar, Dr SM Qaiser Sajjad, Dr Elahi Bux Baloch, Dr M Idrees Edhi and Dr Qazi M Wasiq, warned the Sindh government not to amend the bill for the personal benefit of a certain person. “Any amendment in the bill will be challenged in the courts.”

The speakers said that it was the PMDC’s prime responsibility to keep a check on the registration of medical practitioners and colleges. They lamented, however, that the institution had become a battlefield between different political groups.

“Prof. Khan is no more the official VC of the DUHS. He is neither the head of the PMDC legally. He should be sacked from these positions immediately,” demanded Dr Azhar and his colleagues.

They also called for the restructuring of the PMDC through independent and transparent elections, as per the verdict of the Supreme Court.

“It is a very serious issue because it directly relates to the common people. The PMDC’s corruption will directly effect medical institutions,” explained Dr Sajjad.

The PMA body, highlighting the importance of the PMDC, said that sub-standard doctors will be employed in hospitals in the coming years if transparency was not ensured. “The system will not progress if its heads are corrupt,” they warned. “The PMDC has to identify the doctors’ competency but what can one expect from the body if it is involved in corruption itself,” Dr Edhi questioned. “Some people are simply working for power grabbing. “

More hospitals

The speakers suggested building hospitals under the umbrella of the medical colleges will reduce the burden on public hospitals. They added there were about nine medical and dental colleges in Karachi, which, if opened hospitals in their premises, would be in the larger interests of the general public. It also emphasised that political interference in such institutions must come to an end.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2013.