Unethical health practitioners

A report by the health department found that there are thousands of feigning doctors — or quacks — amongst us. The report was submitted to the Sindh High Court decrying that officials have been wavering in their crackdowns against impersonating doctors as the latter have grown in number from 3,947 to 5,856 between May and October. The Court has summoned district administrations across Sindh to investigate clinics operating with unqualified health practitioners. Given the rise in popularity of the notion of checks and balances, this news is disconcerting as it indicates authorities have not been fulfilling their roles and are allowing quacks to operate. Evidently, the pull towards a system of checks and balances is mere rhetoric with an absent will to adopt the same. Nevertheless, district administrations must close fake clinics, submit first information reports against imposters, and bar the individuals from practising in the health field. A mandatory recourse in ethics training as part of their sentences would also serve the individuals and their communities well.

Any credible profession requires certain board or state-mandated qualifications or licence. It behooves individuals that the ultimate concern is for people’s wellbeing. Patients’ health can deteriorate and they are rendered helpless because patient rights remain limited. The health department should up its ante and this time, instead of forming committees, it must establish a team dedicated to monitoring private practices in their respective districts and provinces and ensuring that each functional entity is registered to practise with correct documentation submitted to the health department. The team can liaise with local authorities to seek due course of law for mimickers. This would require regular visits by a vigilance team until the quack culture is eliminated. The ubiquitous mentality in Pakistan is that it is acceptable to circumvent the law. Until impersonators and perpetrators are taken to task, respect for the law will be nonexistent.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st , 2016.

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