The spokesperson says in a province-wide crackdown on quackery, enforcement teams from the PHC conducted raids on 2,995 treatment centers.
LAHORE: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-March 5th, 2024) The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has taken stringent action against quackery, closing down 634 unauthorized and illegal treatment centers in the past month alone.
The spokesperson said that in a province-wide crackdown on quackery, enforcement teams from the PHC conducted raids on 2,995 treatment centers. Of these, 397 centers previously involved in quackery have been converted into legally compliant establishments, with 84 now being operated by qualified physicians. Despite being under surveillance, 1,865 treatment centers reportedly staffed by qualified professionals during raids were suspected of being run by quacks.
The closures were concentrated primarily in Lahore, where 75 establishments were shut down, followed by 55 in Faisalabad, 42 in Sahiwal, 35 in Rawalpindi, 31 in Sargodha, 30 in Toba Tek Singh, and 29 in Okara. Similar actions were taken in other districts across the province.
According to a PHC spokesperson, the anti-quackery enforcement teams have conducted inspections at over 179,000 treatment centers, resulting in the closure of 49,575 illegal outlets. "Of these, 39,246 former quackery centers have been repurposed," he stated.
The majority of sealed establishments posed as fake family physician clinics, while others masqueraded as hakims, homeopathic clinics, medical stores, laboratories, dental clinics, among other types.
