SARGODHA: The Sargodha District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital is treating a woman, who was earlier treated by a quack of Bhagtanwala a few days ago.

Quacks have been operating in the district without any check.

Doctors said Shahr Bano was brought to the DHQ Hospital in a critical condition for she was administered an injection, meant for veterinary practices, by a quack.

Working without any check

One of the area residents, Syed Riaz Husain, quoting the plight of Shahr Bano, told Dawn that illegal doctors would not only treat the people, but they would also act as agents for kidney shops operating in Rawalpindi.

They would refer the patients there promising free treatment, and many returned to their towns only to learn after several months their kidneys had been stolen.

He said Bhagtanwala police had failed to act on the complaint of a brother of Bano.

Kidney sellers have also found a good number of volunteer kidney sellers in the areas of Kotmomin and Bhalwal since 1999. Several non-government organisations had rushed to the area when the issue was first reported in 2000 but nothing could stop the practice.

Now, people would sell their kidney for Rs300,000 to pay off their chronic debt but they end up spending the money on their treatment because of the post-surgery complications.

At present, a quack is paid 30 per cent of the sum paid to a kidney seller from the Rawalpindi kidney shops.

DHQ Hospital urologist Dr Ahmad Nawaz said that donating a kidney was a normal procedure, and would not leave any telling impact on a donor’s health if post-surgical care was taken seriously. Though a donor returns to normalcy in about two months, they, however are advised not to do hard labour.

He said as most of the donors were labourers, they would hardly escape complications. He said the patients hardly consult qualified urologists to resolve kidney problem. Cheap quacks would cost them dearly, he said.

He said he had arranged camps in various rural areas to raise awareness among the people about kidney issues but quacks frustrated their efforts.

The executive district officer of health was not available for comment.

A drug inspector said medical stores in the city and rural areas were also encouraging self-medication among the public.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2016