KARACHI, Oct 19: Over 300,000 quacks, involved in every type of medical treatment, including surgery, are playing with the health of people all over the country, said Dr. Azam Yusuf, a renowned surgeon, at the concluding session of a two-day 10th annual surgical conference on Sunday.

The conference was organized by the Society of Surgeons of Pakistan (SSP), Karachi Chapter, at a local hotel.

A large number of surgeons from all over the country attended this two-day meeting, which was addressed by about 60 experts.

Dr. Yusuf pointed out that treatment results of the quacks are sometimes very devastating for the health of patients and sometimes it can make the diseases incurable. Fake Hakims, Homeopaths and non-qualified doctors often perform very complicated surgeries, which result in death of the patients, he added.

Dr. Yusuf particularly expressed concern over mushroom growth of quacks in the country, who, he said, claim to treat every ailment through herbal medicines.

“Even they (quacks) claim treatment of hernia, which has no other cure than surgical operation, these quacks are publicising themselves through media, including government owned radio and TV.”

Dr. Yusuf said quacks claim that their medicines have no side- effects. Patients often use these medicines for longer durations, which may cause further complications. “When patients reach us they become incurable,” he added.

Prof. Abdul Majeed of King Edward Medical College, Lahore, in his presentation on “Medical Ethics as Practised Today”, asked the GPs and surgeons not to indulge in unhealthy practices for earning more money or fame.

“Unfortunately, like other professions, we also have some people who do not follow ethics while undertaking their professional assignments.”

Prof. Chaudhry suggested that societies, like SSP and medical associations, should caution their members against indulging in unhealthy practices.

In his presentation, Prof. Asif Zafar of Rawalpindi Medical College spoke about the use of information technology in surgery. He said that now the surgeons have started performing operations at distance through Internet. Even experiments are being made to use robots in distant operations. In future, the doctors sitting in Pakistan can perform operation in the USA through robots, he added.

Dr. Badar Siddiqui said that medical ethics was a main issue in their profession.

He pointed out that surgical judgment is very essential for every surgeon. He said the surgeon has to look into the surgery need of a patient.

The Chairman of Organizing Committee and Central President-elect of Society of Surgeons of Pakistan Prof. Manzar Salim said the society has decided to form a surgical ethics committee to prepare its recommendations for image improvement of surgeons, self-accountability and removal of misconception in the public minds about surgery.

Other experts underlined the need for creating awareness about importance of surgery among general public. They urged the government to increase training facilities for surgeons in the country, as well as abroad.

They read out their papers and gave presentations on various aspects of surgery and latest developments in this field.

An exhibition was also arranged in which many pharmaceutical companies and NGOs, working for health sector established their stalls.—PPI