UP: Health department to act on quacks. Illegal clinics and hospitals to be sealed.

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Agra: The health department along with the district administration may finally launch a campaign against quacks and fake doctors after receiving numerous complaints.

Part of the campaign includes conducting raids in different parts of the districts and shutting down all establishments such as clinics and nursing homes operating illegally without qualified doctors and valid permissions.

According to the Chief Medical Officer, legal action will be initiated against the quacks and fake doctors and FIRs will be registered.

Unauthorized clinics are rampant in the districts. In some rural areas, even hospitals with intensive care units are being operated by quacks.

Previously raids were conducted but no FIRs were filed against the quacks. Just last month one clinic and two hospitals allegedly run by quacks were raided.

This year around 30 illegal clinics, hospitals and pathology labs have been identified based on the complaints but no FIRs have been registered so far.

As a result, some of the clinics which were closed earlier have reopened. Several deaths have occurred in the recent past as the people visit these quacks instead of consulting qualified doctors.

There are around 10 lakh quacks practicing modern allopathic medicine in India. As per a WHO report published in 2016 57% of those ‘practicing’ allopathic medicine did not have any medical qualification.