'PMDC & CPSP to remain intact under federal government'

Sindh governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad has assured the vice chancellors of medical universities of the province that Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP) would remain intact under the federal government.
A joint meeting of the Pakistan Medical Association (Center) and PMA, Karachi chapter held here at the PMA House on Monday was told that the institutions like PMDC and CPSP have been saved from disintegration and becoming provincial subjects after assurances given by Sindh governor to vice chancellors of medical universities that provincial chapters of these bodies would not be established.
Discussing the move of setting up PMDC and CPSP at provincial level, participants of the meeting were of the view that the PMDC required to be made a strong federal autonomous body to ensure quality under-graduate education and as a licensing authority. It regretted that a group of doctors, instead of making PMDC an autonomous and a powerful decision-making body, has been conspiring to create a provincial PMDC merely to harass the doctors who wanted to run the institution with sincerity and professional competence.
The PMA alleged that the group wanted to control medical education for the benefit of those `billionaires' who are making profit by opening sub-standard medical colleges and universities in Sindh.
The meeting said that there should not be a licensing and regulatory body on the provincial level as such a move would only create confusion and problems for those graduating from Sindh. The doctors opined that the 18th Amendment should be implemented in letter and spirit, instead of interpreting it for the benefit of the people who are bent upon exploiting the situation in the name of democracy.
They appealed to Sindh chief minister and the leadership of Pakistan People's Party to act to strengthen PMDC, Pakistan Nursing Council and Higher Education Commission. The meeting urged the government to concentrate on the proper health delivery system, ensuring smooth running of medical institutions purely on merit. Moreover, government should also refrain from becoming party to those who are only interested in making money and getting power, the meeting opined.