Senate body approves prohibition of smoking bill

The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Friday approved 'The West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema House (repeal) Bill, 2018.' The meeting of the committee was held here at the Parliament Lodges with Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh in the chair on Friday.
Briefing the committee members, Major General Salman Ali (retd) of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) said that his organisation does not fall under the ambit of the Ministry of Health, as it is an autonomous institution.
He informed the committee members that performance of the CPSP is recognised the world over so much so the organisation is a way ahead from Indian and Bangladeshi institutions.
Ali said that the CPSP has also got appreciation letters from the Saudi government for its brilliant work in the field of medicines. He also brought into the notice of committee members that members of the CPSP were getting a discriminatory treatment in Dubai as the doctors were getting comparatively low salaries and perks. The CPSP representative said the matter has been conveyed to the Dubai authorities repeatedly but in vain.
The chairman of the committee directed Major General Salman Ali (retd) to provide all the details about the issue and assured him to take up the issue with the UAE ambassador in Pakistan.
The additional secretary Ministry of Health, however, expressed reservations over the working and performance of the CPSP. He said the organisation does not respond to the ministry timely and also its rules of business do not match the Act under which it was created.
Meanwhile, a representative of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) briefed the committee members about digitalisation of its whole system and presented a report of it to the committee too.
The committee chairman, however, directed the PMDC to share the tender with the committee before its finalisation.
About central admission system in all medical colleges, the committee was informed that a draft proposal regarding it has been submitted in the Supreme Court and it will be implemented as soon as the apex court gives a go-ahead on it. The committee members urged attorney general of Pakistan to pursue the matter in the Supreme Court and try to get an early verdict on it.