Pakistan's press and electronic media should take care in promoting health related advertisements, and they should promote those ads which have NOC issued by the federal government. This was stated by Captain Dr Abdul Majid, Additional Health Secretary, Government of Sindh, at a seminar on 'Misleading Health Information and Ads in the Media' here on Friday.
He admitted that the government had failed to stop illegal health related ads, which led the people towards quacks. He said that the drug inspectors had their vested interest, so they could not apprehend people behind publishing or promoting illegal health ads. Dr Shershah Syed, Secretary General, Pakistan Medical Association, said that the government's health system had totally collapsed and the media should take initiative to curb illegal health practices.
He said that huge amounts were being spent on government hospitals but no health facilities are provided. He said that one day's Civil Hospital, Karachi, budget is Rs 300,000, but anyone can witness the hospital's inefficiency.
He also criticised the government for the purposed plan to demolish Jinnah Hospital and building four towers where space would be provided for the hospital.
Dr Shershah said that the media would be responsible for an ad which promotes a quack. The ill treatment of the quack could cause deprivation of precious lives.
He said that there are about 0.6 million quacks in the country claiming sure treatment of hepatitis and HIV. People of lower income are attracted due to those claims and in this attraction media was equally involved by publishing and promoting those quacks' ads.
Dr Amin Gadit, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Hamdard University, said that advertisements about health attract health conscious people a lot and they spend hefty amounts for buying these products.
Earlier, Dr Zarin S Siddiqui, of Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Western Australia, gave a detailed presentation about misleading health information and ads in the media.
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