Islamabad: With the approval of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the federal health ministry has formally notified a powerful new Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council under the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council Ordinance 2025, activating a statutory body that will now run and regulate all affairs of nursing and midwifery education, registration and licensing across the country.
Through a notification issued on January 13, 2026 by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, with the approval of the prime minister, the names of the members of the reconstituted council were notified under Section 4 of the Ordinance, making the new regulator fully operational.
The move marks the first time in years that the nursing and midwifery sector has a legally constituted national council in place.
The Ordinance was promulgated to replace the previous regulatory framework and to create a single, nationally empowered body responsible for the accreditation of institutions, registration of nurses and midwives, and oversight of education and professional standards.
Federal health ministry officials say the aim was to end fragmentation, bring provinces and the federal government onto one platform, and give the regulator clear legal authority to enforce rules uniformly across Pakistan.
The newly constituted council includes a strong federal and provincial presence. Its ex officio members are the special secretary of the Ministry of National Health Services, the director general health of the ministry, the director general quality assurance of the Higher Education Commission, the chief nursing superintendent of the Armed Forces Nursing Services, and the directors general of nursing from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
This structure places the entire nursing and midwifery education and regulatory system under the direct oversight of the country’s top health and education authorities.
In addition, the prime minister has approved nominated members from the profession, including principals of nursing colleges from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, a senior midwife from Balochistan, and a philanthropist representative from Karachi, giving the council a mix of administrative control and professional representation.
The notification comes at a time when Pakistan’s nursing sector has been under intense scrutiny. Over the past few years, repeated allegations have surfaced about fake and substandard nursing colleges, manipulation of inspections, and the illegal sale of registrations and licences, leaving thousands of students uncertain about the value of their qualifications and raising serious concerns about the quality of nursing care in hospitals.
Health officials say the new council now has the legal backing to take action against such practices, including closing illegal institutions, cancelling fraudulent registrations and tightening accreditation standards. Nursing bodies and students, however, say the real test will be whether these powers are used quickly and transparently.
With the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council now formally notified under law and with the approval of the prime minister, all eyes are on whether the new body can restore credibility, protect students and patients, and bring long overdue order to a sector that has been plagued by controversy.
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