PHC to train health officials for action against quackery

LAHORE: To make the anti-quackery campaign more robust, the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) will train officials of the district health authorities at the divisional headquarters to plug gaps in reporting quacks and avoid submission of incomplete challan forms.

This was decided at a meeting held here on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by PHC Chief Executive Officer Dr Shuaib Khan and Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Secretary Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman. The PHC CEO gave a presentation on the commission’s anti-quackery campaign and highlighted the issues being faced by the PHC in this regard.

Both entities will hold monthly meetings to supervise the implementation of the decisions, and resolve issues. It was also decided that the PHC would issue training certificates to the deputy district health officers (DDHOs), and only they would be authorised to inspect the treatment centres and seal outlets where quacks would be found working. Muhammad Usman said if any DDHO shared incomplete challan forms or collected improper evidence while sealing quackery outlets after training, the department would initiate disciplinary proceedings against them under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act 2006. Moreover, the PHC would outline the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the effective surveillance of quackery outlets, and the DDHOs would be responsible for it. For making the anti-quackery drive more effective, the IT sections of both entities would coordinate to integrate their respective apps. For the recovery of fines from the defaulting quacks, the deputy commissioners will be asked to take action, and ensure recovery.

It was proposed the PHC exposed the doctors providing shelters to quacks. To curb corruption, team composition of the Health Department should comprise peer-level two-member on the pattern of the PHC enforcement teams, it was stated.

stray dogs: University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) observed World Spay Day here on Tuesday to create awareness about controlling the increasing population of stray dogs through spaying (neutering).

In this connection, a walk was organised on the UVAS campus which was led by Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Masood Rabbani while Prof Dr Sarwar Khan, Prof Dr Kamran Ashraf and a large number of students and faculty members participated in it. The walk started from the VC office and culminated at the university’s Pet Centre. The objective of observing the day was to sensitise people about the proper ways of controlling the population of stray dogs and cats.