TRIBAL areas (formerly Fata) are home to a population of roughly 3.18 million people. For the last seven decades, these areas were administered by the federal government under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). Tribal areas witnessed the worst terrorism during this period. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives.

A number of hospitals were destroyed during violence in Fata. Patients need doctors. But physicians are available only at agency headquarters hospitals (AHQ), while quacks have been playing with the people’s lives from far-flung areas.

Even class IV employees of hospitals have opened clinics. A number of incidents of negligence occur every year but they are not reported. This menace has led to the outbreak of hepatitis B and C owing to the use of substandard medicines advised by the quacks.

Now that the tribal areas have been merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government must take action against quacks in tribal areas. The provincial government should also ensure the best health facilities at the local hospitals in the affected areas.

It is necessary to created awareness in schools and the community as a whole so that the people avoid quacks and report them to the authorities concerned.

Shah Fahad

Shilman, Landi Kotal

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2018