Health Minister Accuses Pakistan Nursing Council of Selling College Approvals
ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday accused “notorious people” on the Pakistan Nursing Council of granting nursing college approvals in exchange for money, and vowed sweeping reforms to clean up the country’s nursing sector.
Speaking at a certificate distribution ceremony for nursing students organised by the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University in Islamabad, the minister said the Pakistan Nursing Council corruption had rotted the institution from within, and that those caught stealing from the system showed no shame, instead running to courts for stay orders.
Nursing does 99pc of the work, minister says
Kamal said the nursing profession accounts for 99 per cent of healthcare delivery in Pakistan but has never received the importance it deserves. “The profession has not been given the status it should have received, and it must be given importance at every level,” he told the ceremony.
He described the completion of training for 50 nurses as the first drop of rain, announcing that nurses at all federal hospitals would now be trained. He pledged improvements in salaries and every other matter affecting the profession, and said the government would introduce reforms in the Pakistan Nursing Council to strengthen the healthcare system.
A sector under strain
The minister’s outburst lands in a health sector already showing stress. Doctors in public hospitals have protested over unpaid salaries and working conditions, from JPMC in Karachi to protesting doctors in Balochistan backed by political parties. Punjab, meanwhile, has moved in the opposite direction with Rs45 billion in approved health projects, and the ministry is simultaneously running the national polio campaign.
Pakistan faces a chronic shortage of trained nurses relative to its population, and the quality of nursing colleges has been questioned for years. If approvals were indeed sold, as the minister alleges, it would mean unqualified institutions feeding staff into a system that can least afford it. Kamal offered no names and no case numbers on Wednesday; the test of his vow will be whether the promised PNC reforms produce prosecutions, de-recognitions, or just another round of stay orders.
Frequently asked questions
What did the health minister allege about the Pakistan Nursing Council?
Mustafa Kamal said “notorious people” on the council granted nursing college approvals in exchange for money, and accused those caught of seeking court stay orders instead of showing remorse.
What reforms did he promise?
He pledged to reform the Pakistan Nursing Council, improve nurses’ salaries, and extend training to nurses at all federal hospitals, starting with 50 newly trained nurses.
Where did he make the remarks?
At a certificate distribution ceremony for nursing students organised by the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University in Islamabad.
Tags: Mustafa Kamal, Pakistan Nursing Council, nursing, health reforms, SZABMU, healthcare
