Across Pakistan There are 6,00,000 Fake Doctors

It has emerged that as many as 6,00,000 quacks are operating all over Pakistan, while 70,000 to 80,000 are present in Karachi alone.

This shocking revelation was made by Dr Ali Farhan Razi, Chairman of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's Anti-Quackery Committee, at the first meeting of the committee to discuss ways and means to initiate a country-wide crackdown against quacks.

The meeting decided to launch an extensive drive against the menace of quackery in line with the directives of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had ordered the PMDC president to initiate action against all those impostors who were playing with the lives of innocent people, The News reports.

The meeting was told that the council had decided to join hands with the district and provincial authorities, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and both electronic and print media to ensure an effective drive against quackery in Pakistan.

The council also plans to meet stakeholders in major cities, and the first meeting in this regard was held in Karachi on Saturday .

Dr Razi thanked all the participants for their commitment to join hands against the menace, adding that over 600,000 quacks were operating across the country, while one-third of them were present in the Sindh province.

PMDC Registrar Dr Ahmed Nadeem Akbar informed the gathering that proper health care was every individual's right under Article 9 of the Constitution, and that such a basic right could not be denied to the public on account of unauthorised medial practitioners functioning throughout the country.

With the assistance of federal and provincial governments, qualified doctors and the media, the PMDC would launch a campaign to punish the quacks and bring such illegal activities before the law, he added.

The Anti-Quackery Committee members were told that Chief Drug Inspectors and Drug Inspectors were equally responsible to prevent the supply of spurious medicines to the general public.

Source: ANI