Hakeem, heal thyself

Published September 7, 2018

LAHORE: Close to the congested Medicine Market near Bhati Gate, numerous small ‘clinics’ operate where practitioners of eastern medicine sit.

One of them is Hakeem Suleman’s establishment, a dimly lit two-room place with green walls. The benches inside are full, and an extra number of patients stand outside waiting for their turn.

The elderly hakeem is sitting inside his room, treating everyone for a wide array of illnesses, from acne to digestive problems and sprains. His patients are mostly regulars or those who have heard of his almost ‘magical’ skills.

“Hakeem Sahib has an excellent medical touch,” says Parveen Bibi. “My son’s shoulder was badly sprained and his herbal oil cured it within a couple of days. He has, what they call, ‘shifa’ in his touch.”

Another man swears by his ‘chooran’ or digestive medicine. He occasionally comes to buy it from here, and says it helps a lot with his chronic digestive problem.

Hakeem Suleman has a renewed licence that he keeps framed and nailed to the wall of his private office. On a certificate of diploma issued by the National Council of Tibb, it qualifies him as a registered practitioner of eastern medicine or Unan, Ayurvedic and Tibb specialist. The degree is called Fazil ul Tibb ul Jaraahat.

“Under the the Unani Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic Practitioners Act of 1965, every such practitioner must be registered with the National Council of Tibb,” he explains. “Only then will they be considered legal. Those who were already practicing Tibb when the law was made were first verified then registered by the government at the time. But I was younger and since Tibb education had also begun, students like me had to complete my course in order to get a registration.”

Yet over time, too many quacks have been operating and fooling the public into believing that they are qualified. Some of these pose to be ‘jarrahs’ or those who perform orthopedic surgeries. But authentic ‘jarrahs’ have now more or less faded away and hardly any practices now, say senior members of the Tibb community. Others pose to be hakeems or tabeebs who have learnt skills from their forefathers. Today however all the registered tabeebs have approved degrees and certificates in order to practice.

These fake hakeems and jarrahs operate from tiny clinics with clientele basically from the lower and lower-middle socioeconomic groups. They claim to solve problems such as hair loss, acne, sexual dysfunction, weight problems, and other such issues. All this while the patient’s real problem may be dangerously neglected.

For example, Parveen Bibi, 65, has a serious weight problem causing her knees to ache. But her hakeem has given her some oil to treat the problem. Proper medical consultancy by a qualified practitioner would have treated the root cause – the weight.

At the same time, dubious medications prepared by these roadside quacks end up being consumed by the patients who may end up with even more serious complications as a result.

Tahir Ali who was suffering from sexual dysfunction began visiting a fake ‘hakeem’ who gave him some medicines. “I used to feel this pressure in my chest which I had never felt before,” says the 25 years old. “On coming to the hospital I was diagnosed with acute renal problems.”

Dr Zain, Director Emergencies, Mayo Hospital says that such cases come in all the time.

“We have so many renal failures or complications of patients who have been initially going to these quacks,” he says. “But this is not the only impact people have suffered from. They are exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis because the quacks have been using unsterilized tools. Skin infections turn worse, or sometimes even appear as a side effect of the ‘medicines’ used. And apart from this, those who pose to be experts in bone setting, sometimes cause the patient’s limbs to even be amputated.”

He quotes an example of a patient who had a fracture but his hand was bandaged so tightly that the blood circulation had stopped, and it had to be amputated.

Roadside quacks have gained popularity with the general public mostly because they are easily accessible and extremely cheap, apart from using so called ‘age-old’ methods.

They also charge much less than a hospital. For example, one man fixes dislocated bones for as low as Rs250, while a hospital would generally cost at least double for physiotherapy, etc.

At Yateem Khana Chowk, a fake hakeem claims that he can cure cancer. Shaheen’s father was suffering from stomach cancer when they approached him. Nothing transpired from his medications, and instead the family had to go through immense stress as he kept their hopes high and made them come from time to time to get more medicine. When he finally lay on his death bed, and they tried to call him, he would not answer them anymore.

The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) which has been conducting raids on these illegal set ups since 2015 has sealed around 15,000 establishments till last week. But since April 2018, after the CJP took notice of this issue, crackdowns have been more frequent. From April to present around 5,400 clinics have been sealed.

Aamer Waqas, PHC’s media officer, says there have been 17,321 visits since April where they verify whether it is a quack operating or a qualified doctor. In any case the PHC only registers a practitioner after they are registered with their respective councils. The four main councils are the PMDC, the National Council of Tibb, the National Council of Homeopathy, or the Pakistan Nursing Council.

Hakeem Ahmad Salimi, a senior member of the Tibb community, says they support the sealing of quacks and their units, but since April some very qualified tabeebs have also been sealed.

“I know at least 10 people who are qualified and registered who have been sealed wrongly, just because they were not present at their clinics at the time,” he says. “And the courts don’t summon them for weeks.”

“At times we have to raid registered practitioners also,” says Waqas. “Anyone who is crossing the ambit of their own working must be stopped.”

Other sources reveal that around 20 to 25pc of quacks are protected by registered and qualified practitioners themselves for a monthly or daily pay. These practitioners lend their own registration numbers to the quacks and upon inspection, it is posed as if the ‘real doctor’ has just gone out for some personal work.

Hakeem Amjad Mehmood who works in a renowned herbal company says even a degree can be forged. While their Act allows them to perform minor surgeries, a petition filed with the Federal Ombudsman by a young doctor from Mayo Hospital is attempting to counter this saying that they do not have the expertise or education for even stitching a wound.

“Tabeebs should simply stick to performing massage rather than looking afters cuts or treating dislocated bones. These are allopathic practices because we spend years studying the anatomy through dissection, while they do not dissect.” The court verdict is yet to come.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2018

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