Speakers here at a book launching ceremony on Wednesday underlined the need of an effective legislation to prevent medical negligence and malpractice's, resulting into loss of precious human lives.
They said the absence of strong institutional mechanism to provide check and balances in the medical profession coupled with the prevalence of fatalistic tendencies amongst the general public help provide unscrupulous medical professionals a happy hunting ground.
Noted personalities representing parliament, judiciary, health and social sectors addressed the ceremony of launching 'Medical Negligence: Tragedy Under Wraps' compiled by a non-governmental organisation-The Network for Consumer Protection published on the eve of World Consumer Rights Day, and called for proper laws and their effective implementations.
The speakers demanded of the government for setting up separate courts to dispense justice to the victims of medical malpractice's.
Senator S M Zafar was the chief guest. Expressing his views, the veteran politician said the problem of medical malpractice's was not only a serious issue but has become a grave concern for the government.
He said there was no data available with the government to determine exact extent of prevalence of the medical negligence in the country. The reported incidents of negligence point out that negligence is taking place in virtually all aspects of medicare, the Senator added.
S M Zafar advised the government to put in place an effective law to address this grave issue. He was of the view that high court fees should be charged at the end of the trial as it should be deducted from the compensation money given to the patient.
On the other hand, he said the lawyer should also be given a fixed fee from compensation money.
The Senator went on saying that civil society, medical professionals, the government and parliamentarians were the four important stakeholders who should work collectively to address the issue of medical negligence and malpractice's.
Zafar, who is also chairman of Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights lamented that people were still not aware of the basic human rights especially the health issues. "The society will have to gear up its efforts to create awareness," he added.
The Senator urged the government to help non-governmental organisations in this regard.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Dr Sohail Karim conceded that there was no health regulator that can stop medical negligence.
He said PMDC only works for assuring the quality of medical education and there is no authority with the council to check violation of rights' patient.
Ayaz Kiani, Mahmud Tipu and Minhaj-us-Siraj also spoke on the occasion and underlined the need for an effective legal system to reduce the incidents of medical negligence.
They asked the government to make Pakistan Medical and Dental Council more proactive as there were many procedural hurdles to tackle the issue.
A documentary on doctors' negligence, resulting in loss of human lives was also screened.
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