JHANG: Following suit of the health department’s doctors involved in private practice, the paramedics have also started running clinics, especially in the rural areas, offering medical services to the patients illegally.

A paramedic was caught performing a surgical procedure on patients sometime back. His clinic was sealed and he was taken into custody only to be released after a few months and resume his illegal practice at the same clinic.

Similarly, a lady health visitor (LHV), Bushra Munir, posted at basic health unit (BHU) of Pir Kot Sadhana is illegally running a clinic at the official residence of Medical Officer Dr Sadiq Ali with his alleged connivance. The people of the area filed complaints to the district coordination officer and the executive district officer (EDO) health and the district monitoring officer also filed a report against the LHV but both the DCO and EDO did not take action against her.

The district monitoring officer, during his visit, had found Ms Munir running her clinic in one of the rooms of the medical officer’s residence. The witnesses told the monitoring officer that the LHV was offering gynecology services, including abortions and she was charging up to Rs50,000 for each abortion.

This is worth mentioning that the medical officer was allotted the residence and he illegally allowed the LHV to use his residence for her clinic.

When contacted, EDO Health Dr Zafar Abbas said the department was looking into the matter.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2016