A total of 43 higher education institutions now face penalties after the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan prohibited 14 universities and colleges from enrolling students into Pharm-D courses and handed out show-cause notices to 29 additional campuses.
Abasyn University, Iqra University's Islamabad campus, and the University of Health Sciences in Lahore are among the schools blocked from taking new students.
Nishtar Medical University, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bharghari Institute of Pharmacy in Matli, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University in Karachi, and the University of Sindh received show-cause notices.
Regional distribution figures released by the council show that the 14 blocked institutions consist of seven located in Islamabad, six in Punjab, and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile, the 29 schools receiving notices include 22 in Punjab, four in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and three in Sindh.
District Badin's Bharghari Institute of Pharmacy in Matli, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University, and the University of Sindh are the three Sindh-based institutions that were issued notices.
Council officials raised a major objection regarding the University of Sindh because its pharmacy building also accommodates the Department of Eastern Medicine and Surgery.
Inspectors observed that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Dewan University maintained undersized pharmacy laboratories and conducted separate academic programs inside the facility allocated strictly for Pharm-D.
The regulatory body also highlighted a missing pharmacy library and the complete lack of a computer laboratory.
Declaring a lack of trust in the teaching staff at Bharghari Institute of Pharmacy, the council instructed the facility to hire properly qualified and professionally capable instructors immediately.
This regulatory enforcement against the three Sindh locations revived focus on local Pharm-D education quality and rule compliance, bringing up concerns regarding academic oversight and standard enforcement.
