(Publish from Houston Texas USA)
(By Muhammad Mansoor Mumtaz)
Consultative meeting in Lahore focuses on strengthening regulations, improving patient safety and promoting evidence-based practices in Tibb-e-Unani and homoeopathy.
The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) convened a high-level consultative meeting with the leadership of the National Council for Tibb (NCT) and the National Council for Homoeopathy (NCH) to review regulatory frameworks for traditional systems of medicine and enhance the quality and safety of care. The meeting was chaired by Chief Executive Officer PHC Dr Muhammad Saqib Aziz, and attended by President NCT Hakeem Muhammad Ahmad Saleemi, President NCH Homoeopathic Doctor Rao Ghulam Murtaza, Director Clinical Governance PHC Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Salariya, Director Inspections PHC Dr Shafqat Ijaz and others.
Welcoming the participants, Dr Saqib Aziz noted that Tibb-e-Unani and homoeopathy serve a large segment of the population, yet provider and service utilisation data remain under-represented in the national health statistics. He underscored the need for robust regulation, reliable data and alignment with contemporary quality and patient-safety standards.
The Director Clinical Governance outlined the objectives of the consultation, stressing the importance of reviewing the existing practices, incorporating evidence-based interventions and aligning alternative systems of medicine with the global best practices while responding to local healthcare needs. He emphasised the need to clearly define the clinical competencies and scope of practice of degree holders (BEMS/BHMS) and diploma holders (FTJ/DHMS) to ensure services are delivered in full compliance with the statutory requirements and professional standards.
The President NCT briefed participants on recent curriculum revisions by the Council, including the incorporation of evidence-based interventions with established efficacy. He informed that updated data on registered Unani/Tibbi practitioners, current curricula and the code of ethics are available on the Council’s website. The Councils acknowledged the need for continuous updating of educational frameworks to keep pace with developments in traditional and complementary healthcare. The President NCH highlighted recent initiatives, including setting FSc as the entry requirement for DHMS and the introduction and expansion of the BHMS degree programme.
Following detailed deliberations, the participants agreed to incorporate a dedicated module on the healthcare regulatory framework into academic curricula and to align clinical practices with the minimum service delivery standards (MSDS) of the PHC. The meeting also underscored the centrality of evidence-based practice for improving service quality, strengthening patient safety and achieving better health outcomes.
Reaffirming their shared commitment, the PHC and the Councils agreed to promote traditional systems of medicine in line with modern regulatory requirements and emerging healthcare needs, with a strong focus on safeguarding patient interests. In his concluding remarks, Dr Saqib Aziz stressed that the credibility of traditional medicine systems depends on systematic documentation and reliable data collection. He encouraged the NCT and NCH to advocate for the inclusion of practitioners of alternative systems in the national databases, noting that this would support evidence-informed policy formulation and the sustainable development of Pakistan’s healthcare system.
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