According to the health department’s report, the highest number of quacks have been traced in Khairpur, Hyderabad, Larkana, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas. PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD: According to the updated report submitted in the Sindh High Court (SHC) by the health department, the number of quacks in the province, which was 3,947 in the report compiled in May this year, has risen to 5,856.
The court ordered on Thursday the district administrations and the police to assist the health authorities take decisive action against quacks. The Hyderabad Circuit Bench, comprising justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Muhammad Iqbal Mahar, further ordered the Sindh health department to submit monthly progressive reports of their actions.
According to the order, the deputy commissioners and SSPs in each of the 29 districts in the province will assist the health department in their raids. The court passed the order after health director-general Dr Hassan Murad Shah pointed out that a lack of security cover impeded their crackdown.
The bench also directed the health department to lodge FIRs against both the quacks and the doctors whose names they use on their clinics.
Report of quacks
Some 5,856 quacks have been identified in the province in the report of October, 2016, up from the 3,947 figure, which the health department compiled in the month of May, 2016. “The health department are forging the figures just to fulfil formalities in the court,” argued Advocate Zaheeruddin S Laghari, the counsel of the petitioner, Advocate Ghulam Murtaza Laghari.
He accused the department of deliberately avoiding decisive action against the charlatan doctors while exposing millions of people to severe health risks at the hands of fake doctors.
According to the report, the highest number of quacks has been traced in Khairpur, Hyderabad, Larkana, Jacobabad, Mirpurkhas, Ghotki, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sukkur, Naushero Feroz, Tando Allahyar, Shikarpur and Badin at 661, 387, 350, 302, 276, 273, 257, 236, 235, 221, 215 and 190, respectively.
It shows an increase, in comparison to the report of May, in the identified charlatans in Hyderabad, Larkana, Jacobabad, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Jamshoro, Karachi East and Karachi Malir. The figures have remained unchanged for Sukkur, Naushero Feroz, Shikarpur, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan and Korangi. In Ghotki, Dadu and Thatta, the report shows a lesser number of quacks than the numbers that were reported in May.
The department claims to have sealed 942 of the 5,856 clinics of the quacks while another 1,127 fake doctors volunteered to shut down their businesses out of fear of action. However, the number of police cases registered against quackery remains dismally low at 129.
After objection of the petitioner to the report, the bench ordered the health director-general to submit a fortnightly progressive report of action. However, Dr Shah cited various constraints that will not allow the authorities to comply with the 15-day deadline and sought one-month time for submission of each report.
While granting the director-general’s prayer, the court ordered him to submit a report after every 30 days and fixed the next hearing on November 30.
No will for action?
The report’s summary submitted in the court also shows inconsistent action against quacks, which varies from district to district. For example, the authorities claim that 70% to 100% of quacks in four districts have either shut down their outlets or the health department sealed their clinics. These include 549 out of 661 quacks in Khairpur, 142 out of 168 Dadu, 131 out of 190 in Badin and all the 276 in Mirpurkhas.
In contrast, not a single clinic could be closed in Sanghar, which has the highest number of fake doctors at 703, and in Karachi Central and Karachi East, where 147 and 135 such impostors, respectively, have been spotted.
Only 5% to 10% fake doctors have faced action in Naushero Feroz and Tando Muhammad Khan districts. Interestingly, the Sindh health department claims that a large number of quacks - 1,127 - had volunteered to close their clinics after the authorities began a crackdown as compared to the 942, whose health centres were officially sealed.
The district health officers of 21 districts provided only statistical taluka-wise figures for submission in the court. However, the district health officers of Shaheed Benazirabad, Matiari, Badin, Larkana, Malir, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Kashmore-Kandhkot districts submitted names of quacks along with their addresses.
Strangely, most among these eight districts have witnessed weak action despite knowledge of names and location of the fraudsters. Only 84 out of 387 fake in Larkana, 34 out of 257 in Benazirabad, 36 out of 102 in Matiari and 48 out of 115 in Malir have faced action.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 22nd, 2016.
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