Medical Qualifications (Information) Ordinance, 1960

The Medical Qualifications (Information) Ordinance, 1960 required a wide range of medical and paramedical professionals living in Pakistan to formally register their qualifications with the provincial health authorities — essentially an early professional census of the medical workforce. Section 3 requires anyone falling into the categories listed in the First Schedule, regardless of nationality or whether they work for the government, to submit information to the Director-General of Health Services of their province, using the form set out in the Second Schedule.

The First Schedule's categories are broad: people holding allopathic medicine qualifications, qualified dentists, nurses and nursing orderlies, health visitors and midwives, sanitary and malaria inspectors and health assistants, dispensers and pharmacists, physiotherapists and masseurs, and X-ray, laboratory, or medical-instrument-repair technicians. The Second Schedule form asks for personal details, nationality, educational and professional qualifications, any specialty, and employment history.

Section 4 set the original deadline as one month from the Ordinance's promulgation for existing professionals, and requires anyone who qualifies (or adds further qualifications) afterward to report within one month of that event — though the Director-General can allow more time in special circumstances.

Section 5 penalises failure to comply without sufficient cause with imprisonment up to one month, a fine up to one thousand rupees, or both, and requires the Director-General's authorisation before a prosecution can begin. This is now a largely historical registration exercise from 1960; current medical practitioner registration in Pakistan is generally handled through the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and similar bodies.