LAHORE: A number of health professionals from both medical and administrative cadres have joined hands against what they said illegal Punjab leadership of the Pakistan Medical Association and demanded immediate ban on it.

They unanimously passed a resolution demanding a probe into alleged misuse of millions of rupees (funds) of the PMA. A meeting of the Punjab Medical Teachers Association and the Movement for Restoration of PMA and the MTA Punjab was held here on Thursday.

Prof Sami Mumtaz, Prof Dr Tehseen Riaz, Prof Azeem Jahangir, Dr Farooq Zahra, Dr Hamid Awan, Dr Ahmed Saleem and Dr Rizwan Ahmed tabled many proposals to highlight their issues.

The meeting demanded ban on the `illegal group of doctors occupying the PMA Punjab` and action against them for alleged misuse of millions of rupees, says a statement.

`We are now getting strength against the socalled office-bearers of the PMA Punjab and this time the medical community will get rid of them,` Prof Dr Tehseen Riaz said. He said that during the joint session, the participants were briefed on the recent `engineered` elections of the pro-vincial and central chapters of the PMA.

`The PMA has been deprived of legitimate representatives for the last 20 years,` Prof Tehseen said.

`The poor patients have been deprived of free treatment at the hospitals.

Corruption, bribe and nepotism are hitting the health system and senior doctors are being victimised by the health bureaucracy through transfers and postings,` he said.

`The medical associations in other countries like India, America, Australia and the UK play a key role in arranging the health policies` programmes to bring about improvements in the teaching institutions and for the patients` welfare,` he said.

PMA Punjab President Dr Mehr Iqbal denied the allegations and said the election schedule of the association was properly announced giving ample opportunity to all the members for participation. He said every PMA office-bearer has right to difference of opinion which the association welcomed but the negative propaganda would affect the mother association of the medical community.

He also denied misuse of the funds and said the PMA was ready to face any probe.

`The present body was properly elected through a system and the allegations would be countered at all fora`, he added.