KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has strongly condemned the appointment of bureaucrat Shaheryar Memon as Director General (DG) Health Services Sindh, describing the move as a violation of court orders and directives concerning appointments to technical medical positions.
In a statement, PMA Secretary General Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro expressed serious concern over the Sindh government's decision, saying that appointing a non-medical bureaucrat to a senior technical health position could have serious implications for public health administration.
The association said it was disheartening for the medical fraternity that senior, experienced and qualified medical professionals had been bypassed in favour of a non-technical administrator. It maintained that placing a non-medical bureaucratic officer at the helm of the senior management cadre of doctors undermined professional expertise and could adversely affect health administration.
The PMA demanded immediate revocation of the appointment order and called upon the Sindh government to appoint a senior and qualified medical professional as DG Health Sindh.
The association warned that if the provincial government continued to run health services through non-medical bureaucrats, medical professionals could resort to resigning from administrative and operational responsibilities and leave the bureaucracy to manage those functions.
The PMA also urged the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to take notice of what it described as the continued disregard for medical qualifications in public-sector health leadership positions.
Dr. Shoro warned that if the appointment was not reversed promptly, the medical community would initiate a wider campaign of administrative non-cooperation across Sindh.
