Health Woes: ‘GPs ill-represented in PMDC’

KARACHI: The College of Family Medicine Pakistan, Karachi, has made demands for proportionate representation of general practitioners and family physicians in the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). According to a press release, the college’s mission is to improve the quality of healthcare for all Pakistanis. As per the PMDC figures, there are more than 145,000 registered general practitioners in Pakistan and there are around 32,000 registered specialists in the country. The family physicians singlehandedly provide affordable and cost-effective healthcare to a majority of Pakistanis day and night, and during the course of their work are exposed to occupational hazards, such as contracting diseases and infections. More than 75 per cent of the population is provided healthcare by them. As such, all general practitioners are registered with the PMDC and regularly pay their dues. Yet they are grossly under-represented in all forums, including the PMDC.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2015.