Context:
- At least 46 people were found to have contracted HIV in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district after a quack allegedly administered injections to them using a common syringe
- Indian Medical Association (IMA) has come out strongly against unqualified medical practitioners and has sought a central Act against quackery.
- He allegedly provided cheap door-to-door medical services to poor villagers.
- A criminal case was filed against him over the spread of the infection in the district.
- This is the most recent case highlighting the paucity of healthcare in the country of 1.25 billion and the spread of quackery.
Challenges in India
- The GDP spending on public healthcare in India is a little over 1%, one of the lowest in the world.
- One of the major outcomes of this is the rising number of unqualified medical practitioners, or more plainly, quacks.
- Employed as an assistant with a registered medical practitioner, these people supposedly learn the tricks of the trade and start prescribing drugs for practically all outpatient conditions.
- Even in the presence of free medical facilities in the vicinity, people choose to visit these quacks because the drugs are cheaper and available round the clock, which seems like an instant and best solution.
- Quackery is a huge issue today. Unqualified people are prescribing medication they are not even aware of. This leads to complications and further, doctors, are accused of neglect. It also leads to mortality in hospitals.
- Data from WHO indicate that around 57% of people practising modern medicine in India may be quacks. This count only seems to increase with most of these quacks possessing nothing more than a school education. Framed certificates and diplomas adorn their clinics and these are easily fabricated
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