National Assembly passes unanimous resolution over PIMS tragedy

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution expressing concern over the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) tragedy that killed 14 newborns and the administrative negligence linked to the deaths. The resolution was moved by Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights Chairman Barrister Daniyal.

The NA witnessed demands for accountability, an independent inquiry and greater transparency following, as lawmakers raised questions over the hospital’s safety arrangements and the government’s response to the tragedy.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the federal government had announced financial assistance of Rs5 million for the victims’ families and informed the House that a committee meeting had been scheduled for Monday. The Minister of State for Interior would present a report on the incident at the meeting, he said, urging lawmakers to attend and submit their recommendations.

Asif said parliament had a responsibility to ensure accountability, particularly where negligence was involved. He noted that inquiries into several previous tragedies had remained pending for years, arguing that delays could cause public attention to fade. “Once an inquiry begins, its timeline is deliberately extended so that the incident fades from people’s minds,” he said.

He said the PIMS tragedy should not be reduced to periodic expressions of grief and called for accountability to follow the incident. Asif also proposed that the committee proceedings be conducted openly so that the public could see parliament holding those responsible to account.

Meanwhile, PPP MNA and Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani said the committee had visited PIMS a day earlier and found discrepancies in the accounts provided by doctors, nurses and other hospital staff.

Malani said a doctor had attributed the fire to a spark falling from an air conditioner, while nurses told the committee they had not witnessed any such spark. He added that the hospital administration’s statements also contained contradictions.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser said he was deeply saddened by the deaths and questioned the state of healthcare facilities at the capital’s largest hospital. “If this is the condition of the largest hospital in the heart of Islamabad, then only God can help the rest of the country,” he said, urging lawmakers to consider the suffering of the babies and their mothers.

Qaiser called for the resignation of Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, arguing that he no longer had justification to remain in office. He also criticised the government’s performance in Islamabad and said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should resign as well. Qaiser noted that a former prime minister had previously been brought to PIMS for treatment.

He demanded that a criminal case be registered against the PIMS administration and called for a parliamentary committee to investigate the tragedy, while claiming that the government would not take meaningful action without parliamentary pressure.

The Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights also moved a resolution over the PIMS tragedy. The resolution, presented by caucus chairman Barrister Daniyal, was unanimously approved by the National Assembly.

PTI leader Barrister Gohar called for a transparent and impartial investigation, saying efforts should focus on ensuring that no such incident occurs again. He alleged that doctors and nurses were not present at the hospital when the fire broke out and that the newborns had been left locked inside the ward.

Gohar also called for substantial financial assistance to be provided to the families who lost their children in the tragedy.

‘We must save the next child’: Mustafa Kamal

Meanwhile addressing the session, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said there was no need to wait weeks for an inquiry into the PIMS fire, arguing that the focus should remain on obtaining facts quickly and preventing another tragedy.

“If you form a committee, even in 40 days it may not be able to accomplish anything. It will gather material related to the incident, prepare a report and time will pass. We need to act on this now,” he said.

Kamal said he did not intend to shift responsibility to his predecessors. “I have never spoken about my predecessors. I am responsible for what is happening today,” he said, adding that nobody could claim Pakistan had an ideal healthcare system.

He said the scale of child mortality in Pakistan made the deaths at PIMS even more significant. “Four hundred thousand children are dying every year. Around 1,300 children die every day,” he said. He added that maternal mortality was also a major concern, with around 11,000 women dying during pregnancy every year.

Describing the deaths of the 14 newborns as a deeply painful tragedy, Kamal said, “This is a tremendous tragedy. May God give their families patience. No human being can bring those who have died back.”

He said, however, that the incident should be treated as a test from which lessons must be learned. “We should look at this as a test, so that the next child does not die and we are able to save them,” he said.

Kamal said he would present all available information about the incident and stressed that he had remained engaged with parliamentary oversight. “I have not missed a single meeting of the standing committee,” he said.

The minister said responsibility must be established if doing so could help prevent future deaths. “If, after this episode, responsibility is fixed on others, it should be done so that the next child can be saved,” he said.

He also acknowledged broader institutional shortcomings, saying the problem could not be solved simply by removing one official and replacing them with another. “The system is rotten. If I remove someone who is bad, where will I find someone good?” he said, adding that the choice should not be between “less bad people and worse people”.

Kamal said he had little faith in conventional inquiry committees and called for swift action. “I don’t have faith in inquiry committees,” he said. He added that the authorities needed only another 24 hours to complete their assessment and that concerns about the investigation would be justified if anything remained unresolved after that.

He assured that no one would be protected from accountability. “I can say on behalf of everyone that no one will be spared. Until we are satisfied, this matter will not be considered closed,” he said.

The minister also argued that the tragedy should not be allowed to fade from public attention after a few days. “This entire incident and tragedy should not end in a few days. I should be the last person to say this. We should not be bound by that,” he said.

Kamal said the government now needed to determine the way forward, including better resource management and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. “This is a matter of children’s lives,” he said.

“We have to answer to God, not to any human being,” Kamal said, adding that officials should not compromise their responsibilities to protect their positions. “We will not jeopardise our graves for our ministries,” he said.

He called for broader reforms to the healthcare system and urged officials not to limit themselves when considering the changes needed. “The pertinent point is that we should not limit ourselves. We need to reform the healthcare system,” he said.

Responding to concerns over the deaths, Kamal questioned whether the tragedy should be viewed only as the loss of the children of the mothers who were present at PIMS. “Those who died in the fire—were they only those mothers’ children? Aren’t the others also the children of mothers?” he asked.

He said officials would be brought before lawmakers to answer questions over the incident. “We will bring the officials before you,” he said.

Kamal also warned against political interference in any action taken after the tragedy. “No MNA or senator should call and ask why our doctor was removed,” he said, calling for “radical reforms” instead.

He stressed that the tragedy should serve as a catalyst for preventing similar incidents. “We should use this tragedy as a basis to save other children,” he said, while clarifying that his remarks were focused specifically on the victims of the PIMS incident and not on healthcare systems in other provinces.

Kamal said some information was being withheld temporarily so that the findings could be presented alongside the investigation reports. He added that the authorities should respond constructively to the tragedy and take steps to ensure that another such incident could be prevented.