PMDC to Check Mental Health of Medical and Dental Students

As well as faculty and staff, to identify psychological distress and suicide risk at an early stage, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has ordered annual mental health screening for 22, 500 medical and dental students.

Key points

• He created the remarks at the Pakistan Global Mental Health Summit 2026, where Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal rolled out the National Mental Health Policy 2026-2035.
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• Taj remarked mental health has additionally been created an independent and compulsory subject in undergraduate medical and dental education.
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PMDC President Prof. Dr. Rizwan Taj remarked the initiative is aimed at identifying residents experiencing emotional distress or other mental-health challenges and providing backing before their condition worsens or leads to self-harm. Punjab Police Deployed for Stopping Long March Ate Food With Insects.

Prof. Taj remarked mental health has additionally been created an independent and compulsory subject in undergraduate medical and dental education.

For context, the council has rose mental-health teaching from 50 to 175 hours and aims to raise it further to 200 hours to better prepare future doctors and dentists to recognize and respond to mental-health conditions.

Medical and dental colleges have additionally been directed to establish primary mental-health care centers to provide backing and referral services for students, staff and others who need assistance. Punjab Launches Birth Registration Drive in 100 Villages.

Meanwhile, the measures come as Pakistan's first nationally representative psychiatric survey discovered that 32.3 percent of adults, or almost one in three Pakistanis, were living with a diagnosable mental or behavioral disorder.

While 1.1 percent documented having attempted suicide at some point in their lives, the study additionally identified that 6.2 percent of participants had experienced suicidal thoughts or behavior during the previous month.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Afridi, professor emeritus of psychiatry and a co-author of the study, remarked the findings should assist guide policymaking, workforce planning and the expansion of community-based mental-health services. Stay Connected with ProPakistani.

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Taken together, the developments around PMDC to Check Mental Health of Medical and Dental Students point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.