MKRMS seminar: Over 83,000 quacks still working in Punjab, says official

Lahore: More than 83,000 quacks are still working in Punjab. Quackery is a serious crime against humanity. It is spreading dangerous diseases.

Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) is continuously working for eliminating of quackery in society. All the departments and stakeholders are supporting the initiative. After the judgment of Supreme Court, it is time to gather at one platform. The people had no access to quality treatment which is the reason for promotion of quackery.

These views were expressed by PHC Chief Operating Officer Dr Muhammad Ajmal at a seminar organised by Mir Khalil ur Rahman Memorial Society (Jang Group of Newspapers) and PHC titled “End of Quackery and Awareness in Public.”

Member of Punjab Assembly Muhammad Ali Khokhar, Multan Deputy Commissioner Nadir Chatha, Poet and Columnist Dr Khalid Masood Khan, PHC Director Clinical Governance Dr Mushtaq Ahmad, Nishtar Dental Hospital MS Muhammad Ilyas Tanveer, Khanewal DC Mazhar Khan, Vehari DC Ali Akbar Bhatti, Private Doctors Association President Dr Irfan, Islamic Association Homeopathic Pakistan President Dr Hafeez ur Rehman and Tibb Association President Hakeem Muhammad Furqan were among speakers of the seminar. MKRMS Chairman Wasif Nagi hosted the event.

Dr Muhammad Ajmal continued said, “Quackery has been there for a long time. There is not a particular syllabus or course about it. According to a research, due to quackery, fatal diseases are increasing. When PHC was established in 2010-11, its basic purpose was to provide better healthcare to people and save them from quacks. We monitored every single person who is providing healthcare to people. There are four federal councils, Pakistan medical council, dental council, homeopathic council and nursing council. Without their registration, not a single person can practice any healthcare service. PHC has gathered all the data about quacks from all over Punjab. The data is helping a lot for better actions. Faisalabad is number one in quackery. While more than 10,000 quacks are in Multan. Unqualified orthopedics, dental surgeons and midwives are included in them. More than 25 percent quacks are associated with doctors and used their names and clinics illegally for money making. Dental quacks are the biggest reason for increasing number of hepatitis patients because they don’t sterilise their equipment. According to the report of PHC, more than 83,000 quacks are still working in the province. There are 16,452 quacks in Lahore, 9,744 in Multan, 6,434 in Rawalpindi, 10,473 in Sahiwal, 4,635 in Sargodha, 6,320 in Bahawalpur, 4,846 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 15,372 in Faisalabad and 8,807 quacks are still present in Gujranwala. As many as 7,056 clinics were sealed by PHC and it registered 42,362 clinics, gave license to 27,580 clinics and 408 clinics are getting training sessions. PHC received more than 1,300 complaints, of which 984 have already addressed according to the law. According to the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council PM&DC instructions, doctors cannot give advertisements and our magazines are full with their ads. They even do graffiti on to get more patients. The city district governments should take action against them. We request all the qualified doctors to come forward and join us to end quackery.”

Muhammad Ali Khokhar said, “Quacks are playing with the lives of people. Lack of implementation of laws is responsible for that, he added. If a person dies through the negligence of a doctor, there is no rule or law for compensation, he said. Nadir Chatha said that many clinics were sealed but no one was punished. PHC should make sure that their laws are implemented. Dr Khalid Masood said that awareness was the sole key to prevent quackery. Dr Mushtaq Ahmad said that doctors should mention their clinic hours properly so that the clinics are not used illegally. Muhammad Ilyas Tanveer said that dental surgeons charged such heavy fees that patients avoid visiting them.

Wasif Nagi said it was responsibility of the state to provide medicines and healthcare facilities to people. PHC is doing it job well, he added. All the other speakers strongly condemned quackery and demanded complete implementation of the laws to safeguard the health of people.