The Health Ministry has announced that pediatricians can only treat children below the age of 16 years.

In a notification issued yesterday, the Health Ministry said that it is important to align the procedures followed for delivery of services at health facilities and hence, as a general rule, there is a specific age limit for pediatricians to attend to.

The health ministry said that while children will be considered under the age of 16 years, there is no ban on treating children older than that age in a manner that does not violate their competency, scope of practice and code of conduct.

In addition, specialist doctors in other fields do not have any barriers to treating children under the age of 16, the Ministry said.

The Ministry has asked people to follow the directive as long as the rules are not amended.