Medical education: Eleven colleges barred from offering admissions

Around 100 FMDC students also stopped from taking classes.

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) barred 11 medical colleges from offering admissions after they failed to meet the set criteria, a health official told a senate standing committee.

Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) Director-General Dr Jahanzaib Aurakzai told the Senate Standing Committee on Health on Wednesday that the PMDC also stopped around 100 newly-enrolled students of the Federal Medical and Dental College (FMDC) from taking classes during the current session after the college failed to meet the set criteria.

Committee chair Zafar Ali Shah and other members, however, expressed their displeasure with the health ministry for not taking measures to accommodate the 100 FMDC students.

“By doing this, the health ministry is putting the future of these students at stake,” Shah claimed.

Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan said that currently medical colleges nationwide were facing a shortage of 6,000 faculty members, which was alarming.

Secretary Health Rashida Hayyat said, however, told the committee that it was the handiwork of the PMDC in barring colleges and students from taking classes. “The health ministry only has a limited role in the affairs of the council,” she said, adding that the 11 medical colleges stopped offering admissions after the PMDC involved NAB in the investigations.

The chairman of the committee expressed his anger, saying the government was making all out efforts to promote education, but NAB was creating hurdles in achieving that goal. “NAB has no right to deprive anyone from his right to education,” said Shah.

However, he made no mention of the university’s failure to meet the required criteria. He said that the issue should be resolved at the earliest and a detailed report should be presented to the committee as soon as possible.

Senator Kulsoom Parveen claimed that the PMDC has also refused to accept degrees of 700 Cuban-trained medical students, saying, “It is very painful to see that the PMDC is destroying the future of these students,” she said, brushing aside the students’ refusal to take Pakistani equivalency tests required for foreign medical degrees.

TB control programme

National Programme Manager for TB Control Dr Ejaz Qadeer told the committee that the programme was being run on funds provided under the Global Fund.

“The Global Fund is committing $173 million for the TB control programme for three years, but we have no clue about when the funding dries up,” he said.

He asked the government to allocate funds for the programme in the coming budget.

A total of 420,000 people in the country suffer from TB, said Qadeer.

Polio vaccine certificates

The health secretary told the committee that the government has ordered printing of polio vaccination certificates, which will also be shared with provinces to enable them to print for themselves.

She suggested that people intending to travel abroad should get themselves vaccinated against polio four months beforehand. She said arrangements have also been made at airports to facilitate travellers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2014.