Seal of approval: PMA appreciates new healthcare commission bill by Sindh Assembly

Association’s president says their job now is to make sure everyone knows about this bill.

KARACHI: The new healthcare commission bill that the Sindh Assembly passed earlier this week has been appreciated by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).

At a meeting at PMA House on Thursday, the doctors said that they have no objections to the bill and are happy that it is patient-friendly. “The best part after the approval of this bill was there were no complaints from the doctors,” said parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro. “This shows the bill included everything and the doctors are happy to have a patient-friendly bill.”

PMA president Dr Idrees Adhi declared that the biggest beneficiary of this bill will be the patients. Now it is the doctors’ and the media’s job to make sure every citizen is aware of this bill so it can be implemented and the patients can get their rights properly.

“The bill has been passed much like other bills but the implementation and the rules and regulations of the bill are most important to turn this bill into a reality,” Adhi pointed out. “Quackery is the biggest violation of healthcare, which will be abolished after the implementation of this bill. No doctor will be able to work without a licence.”

The rights of doctors were also discussed during the meeting. Dr Adhi explained that this bill makes it mandatory to all hospitals to provide legal protection to all doctors serving in it.

Apologising for the bureaucratic red-tape, Dr Mandhro said the implementation process of the rules is the hardest part and they will have to face many departmental hurdles. “I will be keeping an eye on these rules but we have to work all together to implement these rules.”

Dr Mandhro proudly called the bill a joint product. “We should defend and promote it as much as we can and should help and work for the humanity.”

Meanwhile, PMA Central general secretary Dr Mirza Ali Azhar suggested replicating the bill across the country. “I want laws and bills like this to be adopted in every province of the country so that every citizen should have equal rights,” he said. Dr Adhi also echoed his thoughts. “We should all put together our work to make a single document for the whole nation.”

Dr Shaukat Malik, Prof Tipu Sultan and Nighat Shah were also present in the meeting. The doctors thanked Dr Mandhro for helping the legislation get passed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2014.