Dr Riaz Shahbaz Janjua Steps Down as IHRA Chairman

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has accepted the resignation of Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA) Chairman Dr Muhammad Riaz Shahbaz Janjua, bringing an abrupt leadership change at the capital’s healthcare regulator amid heightened scrutiny following the PIMS newborn tragedy and an emerging governance dispute between the authority’s board and the federal health ministry.

A Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination notification dated August 31, 2026 states that the federal cabinet accepted Dr Janjua’s resignation as a member of the IHRA Board with effect from the same date.

The notification, issued under the Islamabad Healthcare Regulation Act, 2018, further says that following the cessation of his board membership, Dr Janjua will also cease to hold the office of Chairperson of the IHRA Board with immediate effect.

The document does not specify the reason for his resignation.

The timing, however, comes during an unusually turbulent period for the healthcare regulator. Just two days earlier, on August 29, IHRA formally wrote to the federal health secretary following the board’s 59th meeting held on August 27, according to documents reviewed by Islamabad Tribune.

The multi-page communication raised concerns about what the board described as media reports portraying IHRA unfavourably in the aftermath of the PIMS incident. More significantly, the board placed on record a series of allegations and concerns regarding the performance and administrative conduct of Dr Muhammad Zaeem Zia during his tenure as IHRA chief executive officer on additional charge.

The allegations contained in the IHRA document remain the board’s assertions and should not be treated as established findings against Dr Zia unless independently determined through an official inquiry or other competent process.

Board Sought Independent Administrative Review

At the conclusion of its August 29 communication, the IHRA Board asked the Ministry of National Health Services to consider an “impartial administrative review” of the matters it had highlighted.

The board said such a review could establish the factual position on the basis of official records rather than individual representations.

The request has added another layer to the controversy surrounding healthcare regulation in Islamabad following the PIMS incident.

The dispute is not one-sided. Published reporting indicates that the federal health ministry has separately sought an audit of IHRA’s performance and finances, meaning scrutiny is currently extending both towards the regulator and issues raised by its board.

IHRA Board Questions Former CEO’s Performance

In its letter to the health secretary, the IHRA Board said it considered it necessary to place on record matters relating to Dr Zia’s performance, conduct and administrative functioning during the period in which he held additional charge as CEO.

Among the concerns listed by the board were alleged disregard of established procedures, failure to place certain matters before the competent statutory forum, delayed or non-implementation of some board decisions and what it characterised as inadequate attention to core regulatory responsibilities.

The board further claimed that there were discrepancies between certain information reportedly provided to the ministry and parliamentary forums and IHRA’s own records, particularly regarding the number of registered healthcare establishments and inspection-related data.

Importantly, the letter itself calls for these matters to be objectively reconciled. Islamabad Tribune has not independently established the allegations as fact.

Dispute Over Credit for IHRA Digital Projects

The board also disputed the attribution of several technology initiatives to a single officer.

According to the communication, initiatives including the HFAT application, online registration and licensing portal, waste management portal, complaint management portal, live chatbot/AI agent, Report a Quack system and IHRA podcast studio had reportedly been presented as initiatives associated with the former additional-charge CEO.

The board maintained that these projects resulted from approximately a year of work by the authority’s board and relevant directorate and were conceived and undertaken pursuant to board directions and decisions.

It therefore argued that the achievements should not be attributed exclusively to an individual officer.

IHRA’s own website had previously publicly associated Dr Zia with its digitisation drive. In February, the authority reported that he briefed laboratory representatives on digitisation of registration and licensing processes and other regulatory initiatives.

Questions Raised Over Administrative Decisions

The board’s letter also alleges that some administrative decisions were taken without obtaining the required board approval.

These, according to the document, included personnel appointments from a District Health Officer’s office, internship-related matters, expenditure of authority resources, use of official vehicles and fuel, and the forwarding of certain administrative documents without first placing them before the competent statutory forum.

The board separately raised concerns over petty-cash expenditure, vehicle and fuel use, and expenditure that it said had on some occasions been represented as being undertaken at the request of the ministry or health minister.

It claimed it had no official record supporting some such representations.

Again, these constitute allegations recorded by the IHRA Board rather than independently adjudicated findings.

Budget and Service Rules Also Questioned

The board further claimed that IHRA’s budget had been forwarded without obtaining approval required under the governing framework.

It also raised concerns over service rules which, according to the communication, had been withheld due to pending litigation but were subsequently circulated without prior consideration and approval of the board.

The board said these matters raised questions about administrative propriety and compliance with IHRA’s statutory governance framework.

In its overall assessment, the board told the health ministry that it did not consider Dr Zia’s performance during his additional-charge tenure satisfactory, while stressing that its position was based on official records and board proceedings rather than personal considerations.

PIMS Tragedy Put IHRA Under Spotlight

The internal governance dispute has surfaced against the backdrop of intense scrutiny following the PIMS nursery incident in which 14 newborns died.

Reports after the incident raised questions about PIMS’ fire-safety certification and IHRA’s regulatory oversight. Multiple reports citing sources said PIMS did not possess a required fire-safety NOC, while questions were also raised over safety arrangements at IHRA itself.

The episode has triggered a wider review of healthcare safety across the federal capital. IHRA has since directed healthcare establishments in Islamabad to review fire and life-safety arrangements, obtain relevant fire-safety clearances and ensure functioning detection, alarm, suppression and emergency-exit systems.

IHRA Pushes Back Against Criticism

The August 29 board letter also shows that IHRA itself objected to some of the criticism directed towards the regulator following the PIMS incident.

It expressed concern over what it called repeated circulation of “inappropriate” reports portraying the statutory regulator unfavourably and argued that some information reaching higher offices might not fully reflect the official record.

That position is significant because it demonstrates the regulator was simultaneously facing external scrutiny while its board was raising internal governance concerns with the ministry.

Chairman’s Resignation Adds New Dimension

The documents and subsequent developments point to a widening institutional dispute rather than a settled finding of wrongdoing by any one official.

Recent reporting indicates that while the IHRA Board sought a review of the former additional-charge CEO, the health ministry has itself moved for scrutiny of the regulator’s performance and finances.

This places both IHRA’s internal administration and its broader regulatory performance under examination at a particularly sensitive moment for Islamabad’s healthcare system.

Dr Janjua had served as IHRA chairman since October 2024, according to the authority’s official profile.

His departure now creates a leadership transition at the regulator while questions over hospital safety, regulatory enforcement and internal governance remain unresolved.

The August 31 federal government notification does not link Dr Janjua’s resignation to the PIMS incident, the board’s August 29 letter or its dispute with the ministry. No such causal connection should therefore be stated as established fact.

The notification also does not identify his successor.

For now, the sequence of events leaves Islamabad’s healthcare regulator facing three simultaneous challenges: a leadership transition, intensified scrutiny of its regulatory performance after the PIMS tragedy, and an internal governance dispute that the board itself has asked the federal health ministry to independently examine.