National Institute of Health (NIH) Ordinance, 1980 (Repealed by ACT No. XIII OF 2021 section 33 (w.e.f 29-07-2021))

The National Institute of Health Ordinance, 1980 created the National Institute of Health (NIH) as a body corporate headquartered in Islamabad (Section 3), giving it legal personality to hold property and sue or be sued in its own name. Note that this Ordinance was repealed by Act No. XIII of 2021, Section 33, with effect from 29 July 2021, so it no longer governs the NIH today - it is retained here for historical reference.

Section 4 sets out the Institute's very broad public-health functions: advising government on disease control, investigating epidemics and communicable diseases, developing an Institute of Tropical Diseases, running a National Type Culture Collection Centre and a National Virus Reference Centre, testing drug quality under the Drugs Act, 1976, and - notably - functioning as the sole producer of vaccines and sera for the country, along with training laboratory technicians and advising on food safety standards.

Section 5 established a Board of Governors chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Health, with the Minister for Health as Patron-in-Chief, and members drawn from the Health Division, the Pakistan Medical Research Council, Quaid-i-Azam University, and public representatives; the Executive Director served as Member/Secretary. Section 6 set member terms at three years, and Section 7 gave the Board power to frame policy and internal regulations, subject to government direction on policy questions. Section 8 required at least one Board meeting every six months with eight days' notice, and set a quorum of five members.

Sections 9-13 covered the Executive Director's role, funding, and budget/audit requirements, while Section 14 made NIH employment equivalent to Federal Government employment for certain purposes. The extract's tail section addresses staff transferred to the Institute: Section 22 provided that if new terms of service were not acceptable to a transferred employee, the Institute could terminate their employment with compensation equal to three months' remuneration (unless their existing contract required shorter notice), in addition to their pension and provident fund entitlements. Sections 23-25 gave the Federal Government and the Board rule-making and regulation-making powers, and a power to remove difficulties in implementing the Ordinance.

Because this law has been formally repealed and replaced by a 2021 Act, anyone researching the NIH's current governance structure, functions, or board composition should consult the 2021 Act rather than this superseded Ordinance.