LARKANA: The Pakistan Medical Association (centre) has rejected PMDC Ordinance, 2019, and said it will destroy PMDC itself, medical education and health system in the country.

PMA central president Dr Ikram Tunio, president-elect Dr Salma Aslam Kundi and other office bearers said at a press conference after the PMA central council’s meeting here on Sunday that the association demanded holding general elections of PMDC in the light of its constitution so that the elected body could run the council’s affairs democratically, independently and transparently.

They criticised ‘discrimination’ by PMDC in admitting Ph.D, M.Phil and M.D. degrees of general universities of the country and those obtained from foreign universities. Justice demanded the PMDC should admit foreign degrees as well, they said.

They expressed serious concern over the rise in drug prices with drug regulatory authority’s connivance and termed it disappointing as the prices were exorbitantly raised to deprive people of necessary drugs instead of offering relief to public.

They urged the federal government to immediately withdraw notification about the raise in prices and give relief to masses who were already facing burden of skyrocketing prices and unstable economic conditions.

They said that increasing deaths from food poisoning were linked it to ‘weak’ supervision system of restaurants, food outlets and kiosks and demanded the Sindh Food Authority (SFA) register all restaurants and food outlets and keep an eye on them to ensure they were providing hygienic food.

They referred to media reports of chicken feed that reportedly contained industrial waste and called it ‘dangerous’. If chicken feed contained contaminated industrial waste it would definitely transfer into chicken flesh and through it go into human body, they said.

They demanded disposing of industrial waste in a fashion that it was not mixed up with drinking water and chicken feed and appreciated Sindh government’s bill, requiring the government to bear emergency expenses of patients of road accidents referred to casualties and emergency centers.

The PMA praised the move and urged federal government to immediately replicate the bill and implement it throughout the country through its healthcare commission, they said.

They expressed concern over unavailability of safe drinking water to major populations of the country, saying that drinking contaminated water was a basic factor in a variety of abdominal diseases -- diarrhea, typhoid, intestinal diseases and also polio.

They demanded the government should take measures on a war-footing to ensure people were supplied safe drinking water so as to safeguard them against different diseases and help build a healthy nation.

They expressed concern over deaths caused by pollution and called for wide-scale tree plantations, banning smoke-emitting vehicles and burning waste in the open.

They called for launching an awareness campaign on electronic media stressing public to take protective measures. They said in 2017, some 1,200,000 deaths were reported alone in China and India due to environmental pollution followed by Pakistan 128,000, Indonesia 124000, Nigeria 114,000, and America 108,000 deaths, respectively.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2019