KARACHI: The 12th meeting of the Directorate of Anti-Quackery was held by the Sindh Health Care Commission (SHCC) at its Karachi Head Office last week.
The meeting was chaired by Convener Anti-Quackery Committee Dr. Khalid Shaikh, attended by Commissioners Mr. Jawad Amin Khan and Dr. Abdul Razaque Shaikh alongside Director Anti-Quackery and his team of Deputy Directors.
Over 41 penalty cases were reviewed from all over the province. A total fine of PKR 1,400,000 (1.4million) was imposed on 34 fake or unauthorized healthcare establishments (HCE’s), with orders to issue warnings and file an FIR on a case-to- case basis.
‘Follow-up checks to be mandatory after the de-sealing process is completed’; stated Committee Chair Dr. Khalid Shaikh.
Committee reviewed monthly recoveries averaging at 70%, indicating a positive trend. Further directions were issued to the inspection team to check all healthcare practitioners (HCP’s) for proof of their diplomas and certificates to be displayed on-premises and marked as proof of evidence.
The Committee ordered rigorous checks on HCPs charged with ‘illegal de-sealing’ of their premises under section 39-1(h) of the SHCC regulations 2017.
It was further agreed that inspection teams will crosscheck whether medicines were being prescribed by without the doctor’s prescription to confirm evidence of ‘quackery’. Photo and video evidence to be on record on whether a medical store was running a clinical set-up or not. If not, only warnings to be issued.
It was decided that all HCE’s not registered with SHCC, must first get registered after completion of the de-sealing process, as per law.
