A high-level consultative meeting to finalise the draft Federal Health-care Regulations Act 2015 was held here with Minister of State for National Health Services, Saira Afzal Tarar in the chair here on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by Secretary NHSR&C, Islamabad, Chief Commissioner, Islamabad, Vice Chancellor Shaheed Zulfiqar Bhutto Medical University, Senior Health officials from FATA, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
A detailed briefing on the proposed Federal Health-care Bill 2015 was given by Director General Health Dr Assad Hafeez.
The proposed Act aims to regulation of provision of health-care services, standardisation, certification/quality assurance, establishment of a registration board, registration of health-care facilities, licensing, inspections, elimination of quackery, enforcement of law and complaints/suggestions, grievances under the Act a Federal Health Regulatory Authority shall be established. No healthcare establishment, healthcare professional or clinical laboratory shall render any healthcare services unless it is registered and licensed under the Act. No healthcare professional shall render services in a healthcare establishment unless he has prior registration under the Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 1962, Pakistan Nursing council Act, 1973 or the Unani, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners Act 1965.
The authority shall have Registration Board, Technical Committees for setting up Standards, Inspection Teams, Investigation Committee and Appeals to trial court.
Minister for NHSR&C while addressing the meeting said the landmark legislation aims at banning quackery in all its forms and manifestations in the federally administrated areas.
The scope of the legislation will extend to both Allopathic and alternative system of treatment including Homeopathic, Unani etc, informed the Minister.
Initially, the law will extend to the Islamabad Capital Territory and FATA. Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir will take steps to enact the law in their own assemblies; it was agreed in the meeting.
The meeting reached consensus on broad contours of the proposed Act and agreed that after further fine tuning the draft it shall be submitted to the Cabinet on fast track basis for approval in principle.-PR