The Hindu : Quacks need surgery not rules

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 18, 2003

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Other States - New Delhi

Quacks need surgery not rules

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI MAY 17. It is a crusade that the Delhi Government and the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) have been carrying on for the past five years with little success. And with the Capital still having nearly 40,000 quacks who continue to administer medicines and even conduct surgeries, it seems this is a lesson that the Delhi Government is unwilling to learn even the hard way.

The recent cases of a two-year-old boy in Sarita Vihar (May 7) and 19-year-old boy (May 9) dying after treatment by quacks only highlight the ostrich mentality of the Delhi Government, say DMA officials, accusing it of going slow on the anti-quackery Bill.

Criticising the latest efforts of the Delhi Government to meet DMA officials and formulate a new set of rules to curb quackery, DMA officials claim that the "new rules'' have nothing new and are but a replica of the rules that already exist and were never implemented in the first place.

Through the latest set of rules, the Delhi Government is actually seeking to whitewash the previous rules including the one which says chemists should issue medicines only against prescription and provide a bill, according to a DMA spokesman. "Also, the name and registration number of the pharmacist should be displayed at a prominent place in the shop and the pharmacist should wear a white coat.''

Other rules sought to be formulated are mandatory registration of medical practitioners here with Delhi Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad, Delhi Medical Council or the Board of Homoeopathy System of Medicine. It is also claimed that the anti- quackery drive will be intensified in slum clusters and also against people conducting operations without any degree.

``After the Delhi Government officials met us last month, we were told that action would be taken in three weeks but we have only just received the minutes of the meetings,'' say DMA officials.

``The `Madrasi' specialist treating piles and the `Bengali' expert treating all ailments, catering exclusively to the low- income group, and the `Jara' doctors active in the Old Sabzi Mandi areas are quacks that we have had on our list for long. But they have managed to hold on to their patients and make a huge killing and that too completely illegally. And though the Government is aware of these people and their practice, little has been done to prevent it. This meeting we fear will remain just another meeting in the series and that the rules will remain only on paper,'' says the DMA President, Anil Bansal.

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