ISLAMABAD  -   In a bid to discourage unqualified medical practitioners in the federal capital, the ICT administration Friday sealed three fake clinics and registered cases against the concerned persons.

According to ICT spokesman, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Potohar, Mehreen Baloch visited Police Station Shams Colony area and took action against quacks functioning without qualified doctors and giving expired medicines to the people. He said fake treatment centres including Hamdard medical centre and Khattak clinical lab and General hospital were sealed and the record has been called for further inspection. Meanwhile these quacks, having no required qualification have established their clinics in different areas of Islamabad and are playing with the health of innocent people and their basic objective is not to provide any health facility but to mint money.

Moreover, residents have expressed concern over the weak health infrastructure in rural areas, complaining that many homeopathic doctors have also started cheating people due to the absence of doctors in rural health centres and basic health units. A resident of federal capital, Muhammad Anees said that there are many people who hold the degree of homeopathy but are giving allopathic medicines to patients, claiming to be allopathic doctors. “I took my sick mother to a homeopathic doctor, who runs his clinic as an allopathic consultant; he gave her wrong medicines which affected both her kidneys instantly,” said Sadia Babar, a resident of G-13. ‘’Later, I took my mother to PIMS where doctors told us that wrong medications had damaged her kidneys,” she added.

Dr Ammara, a medical practitioner said that quackery is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the country as the use of unsterilized medical instruments during check up is spreading Hepatitis C.