Dear Editor,
I am writing the letter regarding the rampant quackery and corruption in rural Khairpur (Agra and Jado Wahan).
As the son of a qualified doctor serving in this area, I have highlighted the ground reality of how bribery and “magic injections” are destroying the healthcare system.
Despite the government claiming to run many “anti-quackery campaigns,” the number of fake doctors in rural Sindh has not gone down. In fact, it has increased. In the rural belts of Khairpur, especially in Agra, Dupara, and Jado Wahan, these campaigns have become a joke. They seem to be just a way for corrupt officials to collect money rather than stopping the quacks.
My father is a qualified doctor serving in this area, and I see the damage daily. He frequently receives patients whose condition has become much worse after visiting these imposters. These patients arrive with destroyed kidneys and bad infections, victims of the “magic injection” culture where dispensers with no degrees give heavy steroids and unverified drugs.
There is a sad irony here. Poor people flock to quacks thinking they are cheaper than private doctors. But the reality is that these charlatans are often more expensive. They charge high rates for unnecessary drips just to show they are giving “heavy treatment,” looting daily wagers who don’t know any better.
The Sindh Healthcare Commission (SHCC) seems powerless. When teams arrive to seal clinics, a “setting” is made, bribes are exchanged, and the seals are broken the very next day. The campaigns have failed because the regulators have turned this into a business. Until we stop the corruption in the monitoring teams, the qualified doctors will remain unrecognized, and the poor of rural Sindh will continue to pay for this with their lives.
Best regards,
Om Parkash Jessani
- The writer is the son of a qualified doctor serving in rural Khairpur, Sindh