Jawad Amin Khan has been named to lead the Pakistan Nursing & Midwifery Council as the institution remains paralysed by a violent leadership crisis that required police to control clashes between political supporters. The dispute pits the legally mandated authority of the new appointee against an incumbent refusing to vacate office, and the question of how PNMC leadership will be restored is now before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee.
Mr Khan brings to the PNMC leadership a three-decade record at the ZAFA Pharmaceutical Group, where he began as Director of Marketing in 1992 and rose to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Under his stewardship the business grew from a single facility into a group of 12 companies spanning pharmaceutical manufacturing, packaging, agriculture and biotechnology, and his track record includes turning around three previously bankrupt facilities into profitable operations.
His public sector and regulatory experience is extensive and directly relevant to PNMC leadership responsibilities. He has served as a Commissioner on the Sindh Health Care Commission and chaired the Commission’s Covid Committee during the pandemic, and has held memberships with the Pakistan Medical Commission and the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council. He has also advised the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on business development and serves as a Director of the Pakistan Navy’s Bahria Foundation.
Philanthropy has been a constant thread in his career. Through the Abdul Qayum Khan Welfare Trust he has funded the education of hundreds of students, overseen decades of medicine donations across health facilities and communities, and provided a state-of-the-art MRI machine to JPMC. His trust and personal efforts have supported earthquake and flood relief operations in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab.
Mr Khan’s academic credentials include a BS in Operational Management, an MBA and leadership training at the National Defence University, credentials he and supporters say equip him to stabilise governance and operational systems at the PNMC. Observers note that his combined corporate turnaround experience and regulatory background align with the demands of restoring oversight and accountability.
As deliberations continue in parliament and legal avenues play out, stakeholders across the health sector will be watching whether the disputed change in PNMC leadership can be implemented peacefully and whether Mr Khan will be allowed to apply his management and regulatory experience to reestablish order and integrity at the council.
