Pakistan Chest Society « Official Website of Pakistan Chest Society

While regional societies of Chest and Tuberculosis (TB) specialists had been active in Karachi and Lahore since the 1980s, the vision of a truly national professional organization emerged during the First International Chest Conference (ChestCon) organized by young pulmonologists in Peshawar in 1994. The conference brought together a large number of distinguished national and international delegates, marking a turning point in the development of respiratory medicine in Pakistan.

Inspired by the overwhelming success of this landmark meeting, dedicated chest physicians from across the country founded the Pakistan Chest Society (PCS) in 1994. The Society was established to advance respiratory medicine through continuing medical education, training of young physicians, scientific collaboration, research, and the exchange of clinical experience. During its inaugural meeting, it was unanimously decided that the International Chest Conference (ChestCon) would be held every two years on a rotational basis among the four provincial chapters—Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Society also adopted a rotating Central Cabinet, ensuring equitable national representation and shared leadership among all provinces.

Over the years, ChestCon has evolved into the Society’s flagship scientific event, providing an outstanding platform for continuing medical education, presentation of original research, and collaboration with leading national and international experts. As membership expanded, the Society strengthened its national representation by establishing the Federal Chapter in 2012 and the South Punjab Chapter in 2025. Today, the Pakistan Chest Society comprises six regional chapters, representing pulmonologists from every region of Pakistan while maintaining a strong central administrative structure through its Central Secretariat in Islamabad.

The Society has continuously strengthened its organizational framework. Although early efforts to establish formal registration and financial systems were achieved primarily at the provincial level, a major milestone was reached following the establishment of the Central Secretariat in Islamabad in 2022. Through the dedicated efforts of the Central Secretariat, the Pakistan Chest Society obtained national registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). During this period, the Society also introduced an online membership portal, ushering in the era of electronic membership (e-membership), electronic elections across all chapters, and independent bank accounts for each chapter to ensure financial autonomy. These reforms significantly enhanced transparency, efficiency, accountability, institutional governance, and organizational stability while minimizing election-related disputes.

The Pakistan Chest Society is governed by its Governing Council (GC), comprising duly elected representatives from all regional chapters together with the chairs of its major standing committees. The members of the Governing Council serve as the Society’s registered representatives with the SECP, ensuring institutional continuity, organizational stability, and effective liaison with regulatory and taxation authorities. Each regional chapter has its own independently elected Executive Council, serving a two-year term and managing regional academic activities while maintaining financial autonomy.

ChestCon was initially established as a biennial international scientific conference rotating among the provincial chapters. As respiratory medicine advanced rapidly and the need for more frequent academic interaction increased, the Punjab Chapter introduced an additional National Conference in Multan in 2017. This initiative was followed by successful national conferences in Quetta, Lahore, and Peshawar during alternate years. Recognizing the growing demand for continuous academic engagement, the Governing Council resolved that, beginning in 2027, ChestCon will be organized annually as the Pakistan Chest Society’s International Conference, rotating among all chapters to promote wider participation, strengthen scientific collaboration, and further advance respiratory medicine throughout Pakistan.

Our Vision

To achieve optimal respiratory health for every person in Pakistan through excellence in education, research, innovation, advocacy, and collaborative leadership in respiratory medicine.

Our Mission

The Pakistan Chest Society is committed to advancing respiratory medicine in Pakistan through:

Continuing Medical Education (CME)
Scientific research
Evidence-based clinical practice
Professional collaboration

The Society regularly organizes workshops, seminars, scientific meetings, and conferences while promoting high-quality education and professional development. It also develops and publishes national evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. To date, 16 national clinical practice guidelines covering common respiratory diseases have been published to support healthcare professionals throughout Pakistan.

Beyond its scientific activities, the Society plays a leading role in promoting respiratory health awareness nationwide. These initiatives include public awareness seminars, media engagement, social media campaigns, educational activities, and press briefings aimed at improving public understanding of respiratory diseases and their prevention.

Looking Ahead

The Pakistan Chest Society remains committed to improving lung health and strengthening respiratory care throughout Pakistan by:

Strengthening respiratory education and training
Supporting tuberculosis elimination
Combating tobacco use
Promoting environmental and lung health
Encouraging research and innovation
Advancing evidence-based clinical practice
Fostering excellence in patient care
Building strong national and international collaborations

Together, we remain dedicated to advancing respiratory medicine and realizing our vision:

“Healthier Lungs for a Healthier Nation.”

While regional societies of TB and chest specialists were operating in Karachi and Lahore, it is the Ist-Biennial Chest Conference- Peshawar (1994), where the idea of forming a national organisation with the name of Pakistan Chest Society was presented by Dr Arshad Javaid who was the chairman of the organising Committee for the conference along with Dr Abdul Ghafoor as its General secretary. The idea was readily adopted by the majority of like minded progressive leadership of TB and Chest Specialists of the country. The conference was organised by the Chest Department of Lady Reading Hospital in collaboration with the Provincial Anti-TB Association (Dr Saeed ul Majeed) and Pakistan Chest Foundation (Professor Abdul Aziz and Dr Ihsan Khan) of Lahore. The meeting was heavily attended by national and international delegates including Prof Martyn Partridge (London), Dr PU Davies (Liverpool), Dr Aziz Ali Nawaz (Manchester), Dr Peterman (Germany) and Dr John Annis (IUATLD). It was also decided that in future Chest conferences shall be held biennially by the four provinces (Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and NWFP) in rotation. In the same meeting Professor Abdul Majeed Memon and Dr Javaid A Khan from Agha Khan University Karachi were elected as President and General Secretary of PCS. The 2nd Biennial Chest Conference was held in Karachi in November 1995 in collaboration with Society of Chest Physicians Karachi which was founded by Dr Zaka Ullah Baig, Dr Ghazala Ansari in 1983. The 3rd Biennial Chest Conference was held in Quetta under leadership of Dr Karam Shah in 1997. The 4th Biennial Conference of PCS was held in 1999 in Lahore under Dr Shmashad Rasool as President and Dr Khursheed Zaman as General Secretary. Though the outline of the PCS constitution was presented in the very first meeting in Peshawar, the formal Constitution committee formed in the second Biennial Conference under Dr Arshad Javaid worked very hard to develop the consensus and got the first constitution of PCS approved in the 4th Biennial conference in Lahore. The account of Pakistan Chest Society (Center) was opened in 2006 by the efforts of NWFP Chapter. The Society got its first registration with the name of Pakistan Chest Society (Center) with the Joint Stock Commission of Sindh in 2010 by Dr Nadeem Rizvi (President PCS at that time) and his team. Since the formation of the society in 1994, the Central Cabinet has rotated among the provincial chapters—Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—while the Biennial Conference became the Society’s flagship scientific event, providing a national platform for continuing medical education, presentation of research, and collaboration with distinguished national and international experts.

In July 2012, Governing Council of PCS under the leadership of Professor Naeem Agha approved the creation of the Federal Chapter, which succeeded in establishing the very first Central Office of Pakistan Chest Society. The Chapter took over the PCS center in 2022 and the Central Office Management Committee was constituted under Major General (Retd) Dr Jawad Khaliq Ansari (President), Dr Naghman Bashir (General Secretary) and Brigadier (Retd) Jamal Ahmed (Finance Secretary). During this period, the new constitution of PCS was unanimously approved by the Governing Council of PCS in Dec 2024. During the same period, The Central Office launched the online portal for the e-membership of the society and consolidated the record of the membership of PCS. PCS is the very first society of its kind which started conducting electronic elections of all the Chapters and Center of the PCS to ensure transparency. The biggest achievement for the society is to get itself registered with the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan for better governance and regulatory compliance. With the persistent efforts of the Central Office through multiple channels and negotiations at the highest level, SECP agreed to register the society under its actual name as “Pakistan Chest Society” in July 2025 during the tenure of Dr Shereen Khan President PCS from Balochistan Chapter. During his tenure, Pakistan Chest Society crafted out the ” South Punjab Chapter ” with the agreement of the visionary leadership of the Punjab chapter particularly Dr Ashraf Jamal. Though the society is diverse and spans over the whole Pakistan with its central leadership and venue of annual international Conference floating to its various chapters, its anchorage with the SECP through its central office in Islamabad has made it very functional and dynamic. The emergence of Pakistan Chest Society as the most strongly regulated and democratic body is the reflection of selfless leadership of all the chapters over the last 30 years and is the perfect example of unity based on mutual trust and appreciation.