Pakistan Accepts Resignations of Four Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority Board Members
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has accepted the resignations of four members of the Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA) board, extending a major leadership shake-up at the capital’s healthcare regulator amid heightened scrutiny of hospital oversight following the deadly PIMS nursery fire.
The four members have been formally de-notified from the IHRA board with effect from August 31, 2026, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
The members are Professor Dr Mati Ur Rahman, Lt Col (Retd) Dr Arif Maqsood Ali, Asma Khalil and Kashif Zahoor Chaudhary. All four had been listed as members of the regulator’s Board of Authority.
The development follows the earlier departure of IHRA Chairman Dr Muhammad Riaz Shahbaz Janjua, whose resignation was also accepted with effect from August 31. His board membership ended at the same time, automatically bringing his tenure as chairman to an end.
Four Members Formally De-Notified
The latest government notification confirms the administrative status of four board members whose resignations had been reported during a period of mounting internal pressure at the regulator.
Express reported that the federal cabinet accepted the resignations and that the federal health ministry subsequently issued the formal notification de-notifying the members.
The effective date for all four departures is August 31.
The announcement is significant because the resignations come alongside the chairman’s departure, substantially changing the composition of the body responsible for regulating healthcare establishments in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
The regulator’s website had listed Mati Ur Rahman, Arif Maqsood Ali, Asma Khalil and Kashif Zahoor Chaudhary among its Board of Authority members.
Chairman Had Already Stepped Down
The latest resignations follow the departure of Dr Janjua, who said in his resignation letter that developments had progressively affected the board’s institutional autonomy and his ability to perform his responsibilities with the required independence and effectiveness.
The government formally accepted his resignation under the Islamabad Healthcare Regulation Act, 2018, effective August 31.
His resignation was particularly significant because the chairman is central to the board’s strategic and regulatory leadership.
IHRA describes its Board of Authority as comprising professionals from fields including medicine, law, public health, education, hospital administration, philanthropy and finance, with responsibility for strategic direction and policy formulation.
Wider Resignation Reports Require Distinction
Separate media reporting has suggested that the upheaval at IHRA may extend beyond the four resignations formally confirmed in Wednesday’s notification.
ARY News, citing sources, reported on September 1 that five members had submitted resignations and that as many as nine authority members had tendered resignations amid differences with the federal health ministry.
That report named Professor Naeem Malik in addition to the four members whose departures have now been formally notified.
However, the latest Express report specifically confirms the federal cabinet’s acceptance and de-notification of four members: Mati Ur Rahman, Arif Maqsood Ali, Asma Khalil and Kashif Zahoor Chaudhary.
For publication purposes, therefore, it would be premature to state that all separately reported resignations have been formally accepted unless corresponding government notifications are available.
Shake-Up Follows PIMS Nursery Fire
The leadership changes come amid intense scrutiny of healthcare regulation in Islamabad following the fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) that killed 14 newborn babies.
The tragedy prompted investigations into fire safety, hospital management and regulatory oversight, while parliamentary committees questioned the performance and coordination of several agencies.
The National Assembly and Senate standing committees raised questions about safety inspections at PIMS and expressed concern over IHRA’s failure to conduct inspection visits at the hospital for the previous two years. Lawmakers also questioned the composition and functioning of the authority’s board.
The committees’ scrutiny, however, should not be interpreted as establishing personal responsibility on the part of individual IHRA board members for the fire.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the PIMS tragedy and institutional failures are separate from the administrative process involving board resignations.
Dispute Over IHRA’s Regulatory Powers
The PIMS tragedy has also exposed a broader debate over the regulator’s authority over government-run hospitals.
Media reports citing IHRA sources have argued that the authority did not have unrestricted power to inspect PIMS because federal government hospitals operate under the administrative control of the health ministry, with inspections requiring ministry approval.
This has contributed to a wider discussion about whether Islamabad’s existing healthcare regulatory structure gives IHRA sufficient operational independence to oversee both private and public healthcare establishments effectively.
Dr Janjua’s resignation letter separately raised concerns about the erosion of the board’s institutional autonomy.
These are important governance issues, but claims about the precise legal limits of IHRA’s authority should be distinguished from the independently confirmed fact that the four latest resignations have now been accepted.
IHRA Faces Leadership Transition
The combined departure of the chairman and four board members leaves the regulator facing a significant transition at a sensitive time for Islamabad’s healthcare system.
IHRA is responsible for regulating healthcare establishments in the federal capital and improving standards of healthcare delivery.
According to Dr Janjua’s resignation letter, the authority had registered approximately 2,500 healthcare establishments, carried out more than 8,000 regulatory and inspection visits, and sealed around 500 establishments allegedly involved in quackery or unlawful healthcare practices during the period he described. Those figures represent the former chairman’s account of the regulator’s performance.
The immediate question is how the federal government will reconstitute the board and ensure continuity in regulatory oversight following the departures.
The latest notification reviewed in the Express report confirms the four resignations and their effective date but does not provide details about replacement appointments.
It also does not establish that the four members resigned because they accepted responsibility for the PIMS tragedy.
Their departures come amid the wider fallout from the fire and concerns about regulatory autonomy, but those circumstances should not be converted into a finding of individual culpability without evidence.
For now, the confirmed development is that the federal cabinet has accepted the resignations of four IHRA board members, with their membership formally ending from August 31, further reshaping Islamabad’s healthcare regulator following the chairman’s departure.
