LAHORE - The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) Thursday shut down an illegal drug treatment and rehabilitation centre, and it also recovered as many as 133 patients being treated in there.
According to the PHC spokesperson, an illegal drug treatment and rehabilitation centre ‘Guardian Home’ was being operated under the banner of Khidmat-e-Adam Trust in Khokhar Pind near Ring Road in Badami Bagh area.
The centre was functioning illegally, for it was neither registered nor licensed by the PHC. The centre administrators had virtually ‘imprisoned’ 133 individuals who had been made to live in subhuman living conditions. The patients were subjected to alleged torture, and they were not being provided any type of treatment as the centre employed none of psychiatrists, psychologists, medical experts or paramedical staffers. The patients were given substandard food without potable water as the centre did not even have the basic necessities of life.
On information, the district administration, health department, police and other departments concerned under the supervision of a PHC team conducted a joint operation. The officials recovered 133 persons, and experts of the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) examined them.
Out of the patients recovered, 123 were sent home with their relatives, whereas, 20 were admitted to the PIMH, and they would be sent home in due course.
The local police have initiated further action against the owners of the centre. According to an official report, nine FIRs have been registered against the accused.
