ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services and Regulations, Monday, unanimously, passed three bills titled, “the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Amendment Bill, 2024”, “the Pakistan Nursing Council Amendment Bill, 2024”, and “the Islamabad Capital Territory Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Bill, 2023”.
Senator Professor Mehr Taj Roghani, the mover of the bill titled, “Islamabad Capital Territory Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Bill, 2023” arguing before the standing committee meeting, which was held here under the chairmanship of Senator Dr Muhammad Humayun Mohmand, said that mother’s milk played a pivotal role in the nutrition of the child, and it is high time to discourage young mothers from using formula as it contains harmful materials.
Senator Shahadat Awan, mover of the bills titled, “The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Amendment Bill, 2024” and “The Pakistan Nursing Council Amendment Bill, 2024”, stated that the primary purpose of the bills is to put in place the oversight of the Parliament over the PMDC and Nursing Council by making it mandatory for them to submit their report before the Parliament.
Moreover, the Senate body discussed the alarming numbers of maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the country. Senator Roghani, the mover of the matter, apprised that women of the country are at war with this rising mortality rate, and yet the government has failed to formulate a decisive strategy to combat such a disaster.
Officials stated that health has devolved to the provincial government level since the devolution; however, the federal government, in collaboration with provincial authorities, is working towards developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to improve family planning services. The committee recommended the ministry provide comparative data for each province so that the committee could examine the progress of each province.
The committee deliberated on the matter raised by Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi concerning the mechanism devised by the federal government for checking the quality of medicine being provided to patients under the TB control programme. Officials informed that all anti-TB medicines are being procured by the National TB Control Programme (NTP) through the global drug facility from WHO pre-qualified sources with pre-shipment inspection by international agents and third-party analysis on the delivery of the shipment.
While discussing the matter of violation of merit by Dow University, Karachi, alleged to be involved in the leak of the paper, officials explained that the matter was taken up by the Sindh High Court (SHC).
Initially, the SHC stopped Dow University from admission; however, the SHC dismissed the petition on December 26, 2023.
The chairman of the committee recommended that a decisive mechanism should be adopted to put an end to the spread of malpractice in MDCAT exams.
The committee discussed the public petition relating to the faulty design of auto-lock syringes, potential sources of spreading diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis among drug addicts and rural populations.
The DRAP officials apprised that the DRAP has issued guidelines for all syringe manufacturers and has taken strict action against all manufacturers not complying with the guidelines.
Recently, the DRAP has sealed two factories in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The committee opined that DRAP should formulate a mechanism to recall the products of manufacturers from markets involved in malpractice.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024