17 December 2017 03:44 pm
“The quacks have become a menace and contribute to health-related mishaps with pseudo-medical practitioners on the rise,” Minister Senaratne said.
“All qualified doctors, who are engaged in private practice, must ensure to get their registration at the Private Health Services Regulatory Council (PMSRC) to prevent any inconvenience, when officials visit private medical centers and clinics,” he said.
“We have information that nearly 30,000 individuals without any medical qualification are practicing medicine, masquerading as doctors. Statistics indicate that there are about 30,000 such persons and many of them practice in rural areas. We are also aware that a large number of illegal abortions are performed by those quacks putting the life of women at risk. A majority of abortion- related deaths are taking place after an abortion performed by a quack,” he said.
He said public cooperation was extremely important to apprehend quacks as those impersonators could not practice as qualified doctors if the public try to identify them and complained to the PMSRC. (Sandun A Jayasekera)