The provincial government has stepped up crackdown on fake doctors in the province with imposing up to two years of punishment and fines, Health Minister, Azra Pechuho told Sindh Assembly on Wednesday. Replying to members' queries during the questions and answers session, she said that there is a law that prohibits government's official doctors from running their private clinics during duty hours. The Sindh government's clampdown on quacks is under way, she added.
She also told the house that the government is collecting water samples to ascertain any substance that is suspected of causing typhoid after 20 percent Pakistanis have been found with the disease in the UK. "We have procured the vaccines," she said and added that the step is a move to improve the healthcare conditions.
She ruled out that typhoid may trigger a crucial healthcare threat in the province, saying that vaccination to cure the disease have been administered in Hyderabad and Latifabad. Some 130,000 people have been vaccinated during the drive, she said and added, "There isn't sufficient doses to carry out complete dosages." She asked the opposition to avoid creating panic of the disease since the vaccinations are imported from India with a centralised distribution system and the next consignment is expected in April.
About Naegleria, Azra Pechuho said that there is no medicine available to treat this disease, but efforts are being made to educate public as how to cope with this water-borne virus. She said that the government is also making efforts to control the use of antibiotics in public without the doctors' prescriptions. She said that typhoid is curable but Naegleria is not, as only chlorinated water may help reduce the deadly disease.
The house reconsidered two of the bills passed during the current session after Governor Sindh declined to accord assent to them and tagged his objections to the legislations. Both bills were again tabled in the house as Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah termed the Governor Sindh's objections as 'unreasoning', saying "The Code of Civil Procedures (Sindh Amendment) Bill 2018" was passed on the Sindh High Court's directives.
Latter the bill was again passed. The other legislation that passed into law was "The Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Bill 2018". Both bills were passed with a majority vote. "The Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Amendment) Bill 2019" was introduced in the house but sent to the Sindh Assembly's select committee for further deliberations before considering into law.
An adjournment motion on continuing drive against the encroachment in the city on the apex court's orders tabled by MMA's Syed Abdul Rasheed was deferred for a debate until next sitting on Monday at 2 pm.