Senate body passes amendment bill on transplantation of human organs, tissues

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services has unanimously passed the “Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Amendment Bill, 2021”, introduced by Senator Seemee Ezdi and Sana Jamali following detailed deliberation.

The committee meeting held here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Senator Dr Muhammad Humayun Mohmand, while passing the bill in principle, decided that due deliberation to frame proper wording for the amendment of the bill is required for bringing more clarity.

The panel was of the view that organ transplantation is the only option to save lives of those affected by terminal organ failure and improve their quality of life; however, disparity exists between the supply and demand of donated organs that leads to a loss of many lives.

The result of organ transplantation may be improved, as a consequence of the innovations and improvements by prompt and timely verification and identification of donor after his /her death. For this purpose, the amendment in this act aims at requiring the National Database and Registration Authority to display the consent of potential donors on national identity cards for identification and apt management of transplantation of organs and tissues.

Taking up another agenda item regarding rapid population growth of the country, the Population Council Pakistan officials informed the committee that according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Population and Housing Census 2017, the population of Pakistan has increased by six percent since independence, making Pakistan the fifth most populous country in the world.

Pakistan with a total population of 208 million of which Islamabad with two million population counts one percent of the national population, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) with 31 million, which counts 15 percent of the national population, Punjab 110 million population, which counts for 53 percent of the national population, Balochistan with 12 million population counts six percent of the national population, and Sindh with 48 million population counts for 23 percent of the national population.

Dr Zeba A Sathar, while briefing on the alarming rate of population growth and its consequences said that more than 11,000 women die annually due to pregnancy-related causes and four out of 10 children under five years of age are stunted.

The population council noted that lack of political-will and financial restraints were the reasons why population cannot be controlled.

Millions of Pakistani couples cope with unwanted birth every year, the council further added.

The committee was informed that there is a total of nine million pregnancies per year out of which five million are wanted, while four million are unwanted pregnancies, out of these four million unwanted pregnancies, 2.2 million induced abortions, 1.4 million are unwanted births, while the rest are miscarriages.

The committee was also apprised that the public sector does not allow abortions.

Chairman committee Dr Humayun said, “Birth control is a bigger problem of men than that of women”.

The committee observed that there is a great religious barrier in terms of awareness in birth control and abortions, which needs to be filled with the help of the Ulema.

The committee recommended a legal framework for the same and an effective plan to devise its implementation. The Chairman Committee underlined that he will raise the issue in the House.

The matter pertaining to Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) on the recently MD CAT test conducted by TEPS and provision of the experience, technical qualification of all other testing agencies that participated in the bids were also taken up.

Dr Humayun said that being the member of the American examination board negated the process of the MD CAT test, and adding that according to his experience and understanding the system of 32 days examination for a single test was baseless and a clear injustice with the test-takers.

The committee expressed resentment at the absence of the president of PMC.

The committee, unanimously, decided that the agenda point must only be taken in the presence of the president and the employees of TEPS.

The committee directed the PMC to ensure the presence of the president of the PMC and TEPS employees.

The chairman committee also sought a report on the stepwise process of the exam conducted, within a week.

The chairman directed that a one-point agenda will be taken up in the next meeting on the briefing by the PMC on the MD CAT test conducted by the TEPS.

The public petition 2872 of Sher Muhammad Hazara was disposed of stating that the concerned authorities have considered the promotion case of the complainant officer and already superseded the officer after considering the merits of the case.

Consideration of point of public importance regarding repair of out of order MRI machine in PIMS, Islamabad pointed out by Senator Imamuddin Shauqeen and referred by the House to the committee on 29th September 2021 for consideration and report was also taken up.

The PIMS officials informed the committee that the MRI machine will be delivered by December 4th, 2021 with a delay of 60 days.

The delay will also be charged a penalty of 0.1 percent per day of the price of the machine. The committee was informed that an order for the MRI machine was placed, LC was opened on 4th June, and the payment was duly made. The company delayed the procurement process due to Covid restrictions and delayed the order by 60 days.

Consequently, a fine of approximately Rs20 million is being imposed on the company.

“Every hour is important especially when it comes to health. Complete the process as per the procurement law as soon as possible in the larger interest of the public”, the chairman committee stated.

Senator Fawzia Arshad also raised the question of whether or not, legally, the nursing internee should be allowed to give vaccination to newborns since untrained internees were vaccinating the children which have resulted in infections in newborns.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021