LAHORE, Sept 14: Two draft bills for checking quackery, regulation of private medical institutions and upgradation of nursing cadre will be presented for legislation in the next Punjab Assembly session.

Provincial Health Minister Dr Tahir Javed said this while talking to Nazims, councillors and other people at his residence here on Sunday.

He said the draft bill for regulating private medical colleges, hospitals, clinics and laboratories had been finalized in consultation with eminent jurists, including three former judges of the superior courts.

He said the legislation to regulate private medical institutions had been necessitated in view of the complaints that private laboratories were giving doubtful results and unqualified persons were conducting major operations at private clinics, but the health authorities had no power to check the malpractice. He said a legislation against quackery would also be instrumental in checking the spread of diseases like hepatitis B and C.

He said the legislation for upgradation of the nursing cadre would give better social status to nurses by improving the standard of their education. Education of nurses would start after intermediate instead of matric, and they would be recruited in BS-16 on completion of a four-year course.

He said the government was concerned about the growing use of different types of tranquillizers by the people to escape from anxiety and strain which ultimately resulted in addiction. He said 1.7 million people in the country had become addicted to the use of tranquillizers. It had been decided to reserve 10 beds for the treatment of such addicts in psychiatric units of all DHQ Hospitals and 25 beds in teaching hospitals. —Reporter