LAHORE: Dr Salman Haseeb Chaudhry, Patron-in-Chief of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) and chairman of the Grand Health Alliance (GHA) Punjab, has had his medical licence suspended for six months by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), along with 14 other doctors. The next day, the Punjab government also suspended him from his post at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Lahore.
The two actions, taken on consecutive days, are the most direct blow yet to the leadership of the doctors’ movement that shut down outpatient departments across Punjab in spring 2025 over the government’s plan to outsource public hospitals.
Two Orders, Two Days
On September 14, 2026, the PMDC Disciplinary Committee sent its decision to the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department, Punjab. The committee, chaired by Prof. Dr Muhammad Zubair Khan, unanimously suspended the medical licences and registrations of 15 doctors for six months. Dr Salman Haseeb (PMDC Registration 74331-P) is last on the list, which also includes YDA Punjab President Dr Shoaib Niazi.
On September 15, 2026, the SHC&ME Department issued Order Citing the PMDC suspension, it placed Dr Salman Haseeb, Medical Officer / Demonstrator at SIMS Lahore, under suspension with immediate effect. He was directed to report to his parent department, the Health and Population Department, and the head of SIMS was told to relieve him from his post immediately.
Copies of the order went to the Accountant General Punjab, the Punjab Healthcare Commission, the district accounts office and PMDC’s Disciplinary Committee Section, among others. This indicates the government intends the action to affect his salary, posting and professional standing at once.
So far, Dr Salman Haseeb is the only one of the 15 doctors known to have faced a service order following the PMDC decision.
Absent From the Hearing
The PMDC decision records that the Disciplinary Committee heard the matter on April 21, 2026. Ten of the 15 doctors appeared online, denied the allegations and submitted duty rosters and supervisors’ letters to show they were at work.
Dr Salman Haseeb was one of five doctors who did not appear despite written notices. As a result, the decision contains no defence from him. The committee nonetheless gave him the same six-month suspension as those who appeared.
The Punjab government had asked PMDC to permanently cancel the licences of all 15 doctors. The departments accused them of closing OPDs, inciting doctors against the government, disrupting polio drives and emergency services, and making objectionable statements during strikes and on social media. Government officials told the committee that after show-cause notices were issued, the doctors’ leadership blocked city roads for nearly 20 days.
The decision does not set out individual allegations or evidence against Dr Salman Haseeb. All 15 doctors are dealt with together.
Who Is Dr Salman Haseeb Chaudhry?
Dr Salman Haseeb has been one of the most prominent faces of doctors’ activism in Punjab for nearly a decade, holding almost every senior role in the movement.
YDA spokesperson (2018): In December 2018, as YDA spokesperson, he addressed a press conference at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology rejecting the proposed Medical Reforms Act. He argued that the model had failed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and would take free treatment away from the poor.
GHA chairman against hospital “privatisation” (2019): In October 2019, as chairman of the Grand Health Alliance, an umbrella body of doctors, nurses and paramedics, he led a province-wide strike against the proposed law to hand public hospitals to independent boards.
YDA Punjab president during Covid-19 (2020): As YDA Punjab president in 2020, he became the leading voice of frontline doctors. In March 2020, he led the YDA delegation that met Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, after which the association called off a strike. He publicly criticised shortages of protective equipment. In April 2020, doctors, nurses and paramedics under his and paramedics’ leader Arshad Butt’s leadership occupied the Punjab health secretariat and clashed with police. In June 2020, while himself infected with Covid-19, he warned that Punjab’s critical care capacity was exhausted and said 34 health workers had died of the disease.
YDA Punjab chairman and GHA chairman in the 2025 outsourcing movement: When the Punjab government moved to outsource public hospitals and health units in April 2025, Dr Salman Haseeb led the protests as GHA chairman alongside YDA Punjab President Dr Shoaib Niazi. On April 19, 2025, OPDs across Punjab were shut on the GHA’s call. He accused police of brutality against peaceful protesters and blamed the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department’s then secretary for worsening the crisis.
On April 25, 2025, he told the media that roads identified by the association across Lahore would be blocked, and warned that arrests of protesters could lead to “extreme steps”. Days later, Dawn reported that he and Dr Niazi, described as YDA Punjab chairman and president, had both faced terminations and transfers by the health department. After a clash between protesters and police near a high-security zone, Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique accused hospital employees of attacking police with knives and surgical instruments.
In May 2025, during the Pakistan-India escalation, Dr Salman Haseeb announced at a press conference at Services Hospital that the GHA was calling off its strike and doctors were returning to duty in solidarity with the armed forces, while still opposing privatisation.
By July 2025, he was being quoted as GHA Punjab chairman and YDA Patron-in-Chief, criticising the government’s changes to the Sehat Card programme.
Why the Timing Matters
The PMDC’s paperwork and the Punjab government’s order show unusual speed after an unusually slow process:
• The references were sent in April and May 2025.
• The first hearing, on August 7, 2025, was adjourned after the committee was told the Lahore High Court had suspended the doctors’ April 30, 2025 termination orders in Writ Petition No. 5162 of 2025.
• In July 2025, the Lahore High Court set aside termination notices issued to protesting doctors and ordered their reinstatement.
• The second hearing took place on April 21, 2026.
• The decision was signed nearly five months later, on September 14, 2026.
• Dr Salman Haseeb’s service suspension followed the next day.
The committee itself noted that dismissal from service is an administrative matter for the provincial government. It said it was acting only on the question of professional conduct.
