ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed the Pakistan Medical Commission’s online service, a big step towards meritocracy and transparency in the medical profession, adding it would set a standard for the doctors.

Speaking after launching the Pakistan Medical Commission’s online service, the prime minister said that it was a big step to bringing about meritocracy and transparency, adding “every one promotes democracy primarily because it is about meritocracy and transparency.”

The prime minister deplored that performance of medical profession has declined because of the regulator as the then regulator did not do the work as was being done by the PMC.

He said there was a time when Pakistan’s medical colleges’ acceptance was worldwide but this acceptance had gradually declined and the world had begun to reject Pakistan’s medical colleges degrees.

Primary reason for the rejection of Pakistani medical degrees was the then regulator’s work, he added.

The prime minister said there were some professions where chance could not be taken, and medical and doctors was one of them, so it was important to set the standard for the doctors. “This step is a beginning towards this direction,” he said, adding the entire health sector would be based on it.

The premier said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had provided health coverage to all the people in the province, and Punjab would provide by the end of that year.

Health card is a protection to the 50 percent population that cannot afford expensive medical treatment.

The prime minister said the government was allowing duty-free import of medical equipments to the private sector.

The government would provide every support to the PMC as its role would further increase.

He congratulated the PMC team on establishing the online system of verification and said the step taken by the PMC would improve performance standard of the medical colleges in Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021