National level strategy needed to deal with quackery

KARACHI: The Anti-Quackery Directorate of the Sindh Health Care Commission has organized a second task force committee meeting where experts discussed various areas of healthcare.

The task force committee meeting was attended by representatives of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC), Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC), National Council for Homeopathy (NCH), and Pharmacy Council of Pakistan (PCP).

They discussed various areas in which they need to coordinate and cooperate with the SHCC so that a clear guideline can be defined regarding the scope of work of doctors, nurses, homeopaths, and hakims.

Dr Shehla Baqi, Infectious Disease Specialist, PMDC, said that there is a need to define the scope of work of doctors so that there is no ambiguity about what comes under quackery and ensured that the PMDC would discuss recommendations in the next PMDC meeting.

Dr Illahi Buksh, a representative of the National Council for Homeopathy, said that the roles of dispensers and helpers in homeopathic clinics needs to be redefined.

CEO, SHCC, Dr Minhaj Qidwai, said that there is a need to devise and adopt a strategy on a national level to deal with the issue of quackery and ensure facilitation at a regulatory level to all stakeholders.

On the other hand, the Directorate of Anti-Quackery (SHCC), in its crackdown against quackery in Sindh sealed over 1395 Healthcare Establishments (HCEs) in Sindh until date.

The Directorate of Licensing & Accreditation, SHCC, has received 200 new applications for registration recently and certificates were issued to 80 HCEs in this week bringing the total number of registration certificates issued to 7303.

The Directorate of Complaint, SHCC, has received 76 complaints until date out of which 45 complaints were disposed of, 27 complaints are under process, while four are sub-judiced.

Clinical Governance & Training is holding training sessions at Sukkur, Ghotki, and Khairpur on Minimum Service Delivery Standards (MSDS) starting soon.