The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Thursday met with Senator Dr. Muhammad Humayun Mohmand in the chair. The committee discussed the “The Allied Health Professionals Council Bill, 2021” moved by Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, Zaheer-ud-Din Babar Awan in the Senate on 24 January 2022.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan said the bill aimed to establish a regulatory body called the Pakistan Allied Health Professionals & Paramedics Council for standardizing the curriculum, training, and practice of the health professionals.
He said the council would help facilitate the qualified and trained professionals in delivering quality health services at par with the international standard. It would help bring about uniformity in basics and higher qualification, and the registration and organizational structure of both public and private teaching institutes. Through the bill, he added, all qualified allied health professionals would be registered and it would safeguard their rights and provide for redressal of grievances.
The stakeholders concerned, including representatives of different organizations, attended the meeting and put forward their fears and concerns over the formation of the proposed regulatory council. The members of the committee patiently heard the stakeholders.
The Chair assured the stakeholders that the Senate Standing Committee would incorporate their suggestions in the bill. Subsequently, the committee made several recommendations by the stakeholders part of the bill as amendments.
The Allied Health Professional Council Bill, 2021 will now be read as Allied and Health Professional Council Bill, 2021, as presented by the stakeholders after the debate at length. Other amendments proposed and incorporated included the word “dispensaries, clinical psychology, and “academics” in the advisory committee.
The bill would explicitly define the use of the designated word doctor prefixed or suffixed with the name in addition to the title of the degree/training of the holder, in respective discipline.
“The prerogative of the Ministry was that there is a dire need of a framework to ensure the list of approved professionals which has previously misled or benefited by self-proclaimed industries,” stated Dr. Faisal Sultan. The bill will also enable to determine professionals of vast disciplines in the field of medicine in uniformity with the international standards.
The meeting was attended by Senators Fawzia Arshad, Sana Jamali, Rubina Khalid, Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar, Bahramand KhanTangi, Sardar Shafeeq Tareen, and Senator Hafiz Abdul Karim. Secretary Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination along with other senior officials of the attached departments were also in attendance.
