317 quackery outlets sealed in 26 districts

LAHORE:The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) conducted a crackdown in 26 districts and closed down 317 outlets of quacks during a continuing anti-quackery campaign.

According to a spokesperson on Sunday, the PHC enforcement teams had conducted raids on 2,395 treatment centres during the last month. They found that 126 qualified physicians have started treating patients in the previously marked quacks centres whereas the teams have also started surveillance of 1,297 centres. Out of the 26 districts, the maximum number of 277 raids were conducted in Lahore, and 35 centres were sealed. Among the rest, 18 backstreet clinics were sealed in Gujranwala, 14 in Faisalabad, 12 in Rawalpindi, 11 in Sheikhupura, while 10 each were sealed in Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan and Muzaffargarh. So far, the enforcement teams of the commission have visited around 130,000 treatment centres, closed down over 37,000, while about on 31,000 quackery centres, businesses were found to have been changed.