Senate Disapproves PMDC Ordinance 2019

KARACHI- A sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) formed to examine the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance 2019 disapproved the ordinance, recommending the committee not to pass it.

Senate Standing Committee on NHS had formed a sub-committee comprising Senator Ashok Kumar, Senator Dr Asad Ashraf and Senator Dr Sikandar Mandhro to examine the PMDC 2019 ordinance.

Government earlier this year had introduced a new ordinance for PMDC and formed a new council to run the department. Officials said that the entire newly formed council will be dissolved if the government fails to pass the ordinance from parliament.

Currently the ordinance after passing from National Assembly Standing Committee of NHS was in Senate Standing Committee where legislatures expressed concerns on it.

The sub-committee in its report said: “All members of the sub committee unanimously disapproved the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance 2019.

The sub-committee is of mutual view that the Government may introduce a bill in the parliament to merely amend the PM&DC Ordinance 1962 if it so requires. The sub-committee unanimously recommends that the standing committee on National Health Services and regulations may not pass Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinanace, 2019.”

Report available with Dental News says that the sub-committee expresses its strong concerns over the circulation of the PMDC Ordinance 2019 as it is not justifiable on any ground. “It is fraud on the constitution and subversion of democratic legislative processes,” said the report.

It also said that the sub-committee is of the view that there is no need for cancelling the earlier PMDC Ordinance 1962 by the PMDC Ordinance 2019 especially when all international recognitions of PMDC and registered degrees of PMDC are based on the 1962 ordinance.

Report added that after in-depth deliberations the sub-committee concluded that the PMDC ordinance 2019 is almost identical to the PMDC Ordinance 1962 which was amended by the PMDC (Amendment) Act 2012 and there is no justification to repeal an entire law by way of promulgating an Ordinance.

It said that all accreditations and recognitions gained by PMDC in the world were on the basis of PMDC ordinance 1962 and after the PMDC ordinance 2019 all the accreditations processes will have to be re-initiated under new law, which would take decades and would harm the internationally established status of PMDC as medical regulatory authority in the world. PMDC would become the youngest in the community of medical regulators from being oldest and most respected, which would adversely affect the job prospects of Pakistan doctors abroad.

The report said that the sub-committee also noted with concern that if the entire law of PMDC which was the backbone of medical profession since 1962 was suddenly replaced by the PMDC Ordinance 2019, it was bound to create confusion for the international regulatory bodies and accreditation bodies.