Legislative Proposal for Establishment of Commission for Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. Rashid Jooma, FRCSEd (SN) Aga Khan University, Karachi.

Title of Legislative Instrument 1.Act (ordinance) may be called the Sindh Commission for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases. It extends to the whole of Sindh It shall come into force immediately.

2. The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson who shall be the Director General of the Sindh Department of Health or equivalent and not less than ten and not more than twenty members representing academia, civil society, representatives from the ministries of education & environment, and various professional associations related to Non Communicable Diseases : Cardiac Society, Chest Society, Psychiatry Association, Society of Nephrology, Nutrition Society, Tobacco Alliance, Cancer Society, Society Injury Prevention, Diabetic Association. Composition

3. The chairperson and the members whether ex-officio or otherwise, shall be appointed by the Sindh Government after receiving nominations from the respective professional associations NOMINATIONS

4a. The Chairperson and Members shall hold office for a period of three years on terms and conditions to be determined by the Federal Government and shall be eligible for reappointment for a similar term or such shorter term as the Sindh Government may determine. b.The chairperson, or a member, other than ex-officio chairperson or a member, may resign from his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Sindh Government. TERM OF MEMBERS

5.Removal clauses 6.Secretariat a.The Commission shall establish its own Secretariat. b.The Secretary of the commission shall be elected on rotational basis from all the member organizations for a period of two years. c.The executive authority and responsibilities of the Commission shall vest in the Chairperson and he/she will be overall in charge of the Commission. SECRETARIAT

a.Provide an effective platform to all the stakeholders (including professional associations, civil society, academia and government departments) with a spirit of public private partnership and volunteerism as its guiding principle, for working towards prevention and control of Non Communicable Diseases. b.Examine policy, laws, regulations, programmes and other measures taken by the Government for prevention and control of Non Communicable Diseases and assess implementation and make suitable recommendations to the concerned authorities where considered necessary for effective impact; c.Facilitate integration of preventive efforts of the various entities (professional associations, civil society, academia and government departments) towards control of Non Communicable Diseases; THE COMMISSION SHALL __

d.Devise a mechanism to facilitate and interact in a sustainable manner, with the professional associations who are being represented in the forum; e.Be empowered to enter into MoUs and agreements with national and international centers of excellence and organizations for financial and/or technical support for prevention and control of Non Communicable Disease. f.Take a lead in piloting new initiatives of Health Promotion advocacy by the Public Health Programs with the help of respective groups in their areas of work THE COMMISSION SHALL __

g.Develop a mechanism to reach out to District Governments in order to guide and monitor the implementation of the formulated policies relating to Non Communicable Diseases at district level. h.Encourage and sponsor research to generate evidence to inform policy makers and general public about various steps to be taken for prevention and control of Non Communicable Diseases. i. Any other function which may be assigned to it by the Sindh Government THE COMMISSION SHALL __

a.Meetings of the Commission shall be held at such times and at such places as the Chairperson may direct and shall be presided over by the Chairperson. b.The meeting of the Commission shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure as may be prescribed in the rules and in the absence of rules, in such manner as the Chairperson may direct. c.The powers and functions of the Chairperson shall, in his absence be exercised and performed by such Member as the Chairperson may appoint. d.The quorum to constitute meeting of the Commission shall be half of its membership. e.All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson or any person authorized in this behalf by the Chairperson. f.No act or proceeding of the Commission shall be invalid on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in or defect in the constitution of the Commission. MEETINGS

9.The Commission may appoint such Committees consisting of such of its members as it thinks fit and may refer to them any matter for consideration, implementation and report: Provided that the Commission may, if it considers necessary, co-opt any person, possessing special knowledge and expertise on the relevant subject to a Committee. COMMITTEES

10a. Advisors. The Commission may appoint advisors, consultants and experts having specialization and expertise in the Non Communicable Disease related field and problems. 10b. Terms for Advisors. The Commission may, with the approval of the Sindh Department of Health fix an honorarium or remuneration of advisors, consultants and experts. ADVISORS/CONSULTANTS

11. The Chairperson, Members, officers and other employees of the Commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code. PUBLIC SERVANTS

12a. There shall be established by the Sindh Government a Fund to be known as the Sindh NCD Commission Fund which shall consist of __ ○ All sums paid by the Sindh Government; ○ All grants, if any made by the Federal Government, or local bodies; and ○ Donations, if any made by private individuals, national and international organizations. 12b. The Fund shall be administered by the Commission which will make such allocations for specific activities as it thinks necessary. 12c. The fund shall be utilized for__ ○ Performing functions of the Commission ○ The establishment charges; ○ The prevention and control of Non Communicable Diseases; and ○ Such other activities which fall in the Commission’s purview FUND

13a. The Chairperson shall be the Principal Accounting Officer of the Commission in respect of the expenditure incurred against budget grants made to the Fund and shall, for this purpose, exercise all the financial and administrativepowers delegated to the Chairperson by the Sindh Government. 13b.The Commission shall in consultation with Sindh Government and Auditor General of Sindh, appoint an auditor who is a Chartered Accountant with in the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Ordinance, 1961 who shall carry outthe audit of the accounts of the Commission. 13c.The auditor referred to in sub-section (b) shall be appointed on such remuneration and on such terms and conditions as the Commission may, in consultation with Sindh Government and the Auditor General of Sindh, determine. PAO AND AUDIT

14.All executive authorities of the Province shall assist the Commission in the performance of its functions. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO COMMISSION

15. There shall be an executive Committee of the Commission consisting of the Chairperson, Secretary and three other members to be elected by the Commission which shall be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the Commission. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

16a. The Commission shall prepare annual report of is activities and such other periodicals or special reports as it may consider necessary. 16b. Reports of the Commission shall be submitted to the Chief Minister of Sindh and laid before the Provincial Parliament. ANNUAL AND SPECIAL REPORTS

17.The Commission may, subject to such conditions as it may specify, delegate all of any of its powers under this Ordinance to any of its members DELEGATION OF POWERS

18. The Commission may, with the approval of the Sindh Government, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purpose of this Ordinance. MAKING OF RULES