Medical Experts hold Pakistan People’s Party government responsible for rampant quackery
Local Sunday, August 31st, 2008Medical experts believe that the non-implementation of anti-quackery laws and a lack of commitment on the part of the ppp government were responsible for rampant quackery.
They were speaking at a seminar on “Fight against Quackery” jointly organised by the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Lahore and students of Development Journalism of Institute of Communication Studies, Punjab University, here at ICS Auditorium on Saturday.
“The healthcare system in Pakistan is totally faulty, which compelled poor patients to resort to the cheapest available treatment resulting in spread of unethical and illegal practices by quacks all over the country,” said Prof Dr Javed Akram, Professor of Medicine at King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital, Lahore. He said that quackery was most important challenge to the government in Pakistan, as more than 40 per cent of the total population was having direct access to quacks for seeking treatment of various diseases and other health related problems. “At least 89 per cent people in Pakistan can’t afford treatment in private hospitals and clinics, while the public sector health system is unable to cope with the load of patients,” he added. He said that quacks were exploiting the poor by offering cheap but disastrous medical treatment mainly due to lack of education and awareness, high fees of the qualified doctors and incapable healthcare system.
Prof Javed Akram said that there was denial of diseases among the patients due to stigma, guilt and fear, thus, wanted magical treatment by quacks or through mascots by fake pirs, saying that nearly 70 to 75 per cent diseases were incurable. “The patients need to understanding that certain diseases can be controlled but not cured and they will have to live with those diseases for the rest of their lives,” he said, and stressed the need to form patients’ bodies to create awareness and stop the menace of quackery in the society.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Khalid Masood Gondal, Professor of Surgery at King Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital, lamented the non-implementation of laws to curb the scourge of quackery, which was playing havoc with the lives of ignorant but poor people of this country. While presenting an in-depth study on the menace of quackery by showing real life cases of patients destroyed at the hands of non-qualified quacks, he emphasized the need to stop the aggressive and misguiding advertisements by quacks, posing themselves as qualified doctors, on different channels, cable TV, ads in the print media, mobile advertisements on rickshaws and other vehicles.
He proposed to form an Ethical Committee for Media comprising eminent doctors and representatives of the Pakistan Medical Association for the filtration of advertisements on health related issues to combat the spread of quackery in the society.
While highlighting unethical, unlawful and illegal practices of non-qualified doctors or quacks, he showed at least 100 cases of different patients, suffering from various diseases like cancer, piles, diabetes and tuberculosis, bone fractures, etc, who were badly treated with unauthorised drugs and further complicated by the quacks. “The mechanical conditions of thyroid, hernia, etc, which had no other treatment except surgery, were ill-treated and resulted in disastrous consequences of irreversible diseases, loss of limbs, which were ultimately leading to mortality among the patients,” he regretted.
Prof Khalid Masood Gondal’s presentation also contained interviews of quacks, who were aggressively alluring people through wild advertisements by offering cure of all types of curable and incurable diseases. He also showed how un-sterilized instruments used by quack dentists on roadsides as well as in ear and nose piercing, used razors by the barbers were spreading Hepatitis B&C and HIV/AIDS among the people in the country. “The Desi Pehlwans are complicating the cases of bone fractures, resulting in the loss of body limbs of the patients,” he said, while adding that Chinese hospitals were also misguiding and wrongly treating patients thus landing them in more trouble. Besides, ICS Director Dr Mughees-ud-Din Sheikh, Assistant Prof Ahsan Akhtar Naz, YDA, Lahore President Dr Muhammad Rana Sohail along with other office-bearers spoke, while a large number of doctors and students were also present on the occasion.
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on Aug 31 2008. Filed under