Health Minister Mustafa Kamal Reportedly Offered Resignation After PIMS Fire Tragedy

Islamabad:Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal reportedly submitted his written resignation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif within hours of the deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), according to highly informed sources.

Sources said Kamal informed the Prime Minister’s Office of his decision shortly after the August 26 tragedy, in which 14 newborn babies were killed in a fire at PIMS’s Mother and Child Health Centre.

According to the sources, the resignation was formally submitted in writing and the prime minister was informed within hours of the incident. However, Shehbaz Sharif did not accept the resignation and instead directed the health minister to remain in office until the inquiry committee established to determine the causes of the tragedy and fix responsibility completed its investigation.

The sources further said the health minister was asked not to make the resignation public while the inquiry was underway.

The development is significant because the government took action against Federal Health Secretary Muhammad Aslam Ghori soon after the tragedy, while Mustafa Kamal continued to hold his position. He subsequently defended the government’s commitment to accountability before parliament and the media.

When contacted, Mustafa Kamal did not respond to messages seeking comment on whether he had submitted his resignation and whether the prime minister had declined to accept it.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials associated with the Prime Minister were also contacted for their position. They said they had no information about any such resignation.

Since the incident, the health minister has publicly supported the inquiry into the PIMS tragedy and repeatedly stated that those responsible would not be spared. Addressing the Senate, Kamal said the incident could not be allowed to become an issue that remained in the news for only a few days before disappearing, and called for accountability along with broader reforms in the health sector.

The development comes as the prime minister has already ordered action against senior PIMS officials following the submission of an interim inquiry report.

Eight officials, including PIMS Executive Director and senior officials of the Children’s Hospital and Mother and Child Health Centre, were ordered to be suspended, while authorities were also directed to initiate criminal proceedings against them.

The interim report identified serious shortcomings in the hospital’s emergency preparedness, including the absence of detailed and properly rehearsed fire-response and evacuation procedures for the neonatal nursery.

The report also recommended further technical and forensic investigations to determine the exact location and cause of the fire.

The reported resignation of the health minister has added another dimension to the government’s handling of the tragedy. According to the sources, the federal minister was prepared to step down immediately after the deaths, but the prime minister decided to keep him in office until the ongoing inquiry determines responsibility.

The health secretary, however, was reportedly removed before the inquiry had established responsibility and without being fully informed of the decision.