Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan on Thursday boycotted Senate Standing Committee on Health’s meeting to review devolution of the Health Ministry to provinces. Khan boycotted the meeting, held at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), to protest the federal health minister and the federal health secretary’s absence. “This is not the first time that anyone from the Health Ministry has failed to attend an important meeting. There is no point in attending such a meeting if all stakeholders are not present,” Khan told Pakistan Today after the meeting since the media was neither allowed to attend the meeting nor was it briefed about it later. “The devolution of the Health Ministry is a very important issue, and the absence of the officials concerned is irritating. I shall raise the issue at the highest platform,” Khan added. “The committee members were impressed with the work we are doing,” NICVD Director Dr Shah Zaman Khan said. The committee did not take up any other issue other than appreciating NICVD management’s work, he added.
