Healthcare on sickbed, but who cares?

Chandigarh : Healthcare facilities leave much to be desired in the state’s border belt. Patients are at the receiving end due to poor infrastructure, acute shortage of staff and lack of medicines as well as basic life-saving equipment. In many areas, quacks are having a field day, courtesy political patronage and illiteracy.
The worst affected are the areas along the international border as the posts of doctors and paramedics are insufficient to treat a large population.
In Gurdaspur, Civil Surgeon Dr Kishen Chand claims the problem is acute in the areas along the Zero Line — Dera Baba Nanak, Dorangla, Behrampur, Dinanagar and Kalanaur. “The authorities fail to take action against quacks because of toothless, archaic laws. Quackery is dealt with under the Indian Medical Degree Act, 1916, which has the provision of imposing a nominal fine on an offender,” a health official said.
“The department raids such premises, but the guilty enjoy political patronage. The moment we take action, an MLA calls us up. That’s the end of the matter,” he rued.