Here is bad news for the doctors of Pakistan. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has now banned the trips of Pakistani doctors that are sponsored by private companies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has written a letter to federally funded institutions prohibiting pharmaceutical corporations from funding medical professionals’ overseas travel.
The institute stated in the letter that “I’m directed to refer to the subject cited above and to say that in future all requests of Ex-Pakistan leave forwarded to this Ministry shall be accompanied by an affidavit by the concerned officers that their foreign visits are not for attending conferences/seminars and that the visit is not sponsored by any private company/donor etc,”.
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Separately, a new code of conduct for pharmaceutical corporations and physicians was recently introduced by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). Following the federal government, DRAP has formally published the new rules for physicians and pharmaceutical businesses.
As per the notification, private pharmaceutical companies are restricted from covering the travel expenses of doctors and offering them sponsored tours including their family members.
It is stated in the announcement that physicians would not be reimbursed for their overseas travel expenses unless they receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the relevant organizations.
