157 quacks’ outlets sealed

LAHORE:The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) raided 1,340 treatment centres in 25 cities and sealed 157 quackery outlets.

The raids were carried out on almost all types of healthcare establishments (HCEs) including hospitals, laboratories and aesthetic centres. In Lahore, 15 fake treatment centres were closed down, which were Iqbal Medical Centre, Sindhu Clinic, Imtiaz Clinic, Beauty Perfections, Sheikh Clinic, Muhammad Iqbal Medical and General Store, Hanif Clinic, Ch Tariq Dental Surgery, Shafique Clinic, Naseer Dental Care Centre, Zahra Clinic and Maternity Centre, Tanveer Clinic, Alamgir Homoeopathic Clinic, Shaikh Clinic and Masood Pharmacy. The number of shuttered centres in other cities included 14 each in Sheikhupura and Hafizabad, 11 each in Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Jhelum and Multan, 7 each in Nankana Sahab and Dera Ghazi Khan, 6 each in Attock and Narowal, Khanewal 5, four each in Bhakkar, Toba Tek Singh, Lodhran, Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar, 3 each in Faisalabad, Kasur and Sialkot, two each in Mianwali, Okara and Chakwal and one in Gujrat.

These comprised a large number of clinical and diagnostic laboratories, which were neither registered with the PHC nor employed qualified persons. The rest among the sealed centres were quacks posing as general physicians, maternity homes, hakeems, homoeopathic doctors, opticians, dentists and bone-setters.

A spokesperson of the commission added that so far the PHC had raided over 105,000 treatment centres, closed 34,019 quackery outlets while around 25,000 quacks had been found quitting their businesses.