LAHORE: The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has shut 173 ‘treatment centres’ being run by quacks during the last two weeks.

A press release issued on Sunday says during an anti-quackery drive launched in 18 cities and their adjoining areas, the PHC enforcement teams carried out raids on 766 treatment centres and sealed 173 of them being run by quacks during the last two months.

Out of these, it says, 227 quackery centres have been converted into legal businesses, while at 45, qualified physicians are treating patients. It says the PHC will continue surveillance of 315 treatment centres, where qualified physicians were found working at the time of raids.

Out of the closed outlets, 22 were in Gujranwala, 18 each in Rawalpindi and Okara, 15 in Sheikhupura and 13 in Lahore. As per a spokesperson, so far the PHC teams had visited 136,574 treatment centres, and closed down over 38,700 illegal outlets, while 32,359 quacks had quit their illegal businesses.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022