Chandigarh: Practitioners of Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine cannot advertise or make publicity claims in the media as per the Indian Medicine Standards of Professional Conduct and Code of Ethics, 1984, framed under the Punjab Ayurvedic and Unani Practitioners Act, 1963.
But with the Board of Ayurvedic and Unani Systems of Medicines, Punjab, not caring a fig, rules are being openly flouted.
The practitioners have been regularly making tall claims, along with their photographs, of curing even cancer in their advertisements in newspapers.
An organisation, Human Empowerment League of Punjab (HELP), used the whip of the Right to Information (RTI) Act to whack and wake up the board, which has now issued show-cause notices to all such practitioners.
Parwinder Singh Kitna of HELP said he had written a complaint to the board, Punjab Health Minister, Principal Secretary, Department of Medical Education, and Registrar of Punjab Medical Council on August 24 last, mentioning how such practitioners have been claiming to treat cancer, infertility, baldness, leukoderma, migraine, obesity, arthritis, kidney failure, heart, etc. He had also attached clippings of such advertisements.
On September 11, Parwinder asked the board what action it had taken on his complaint.
In reply, the Registrar of the ayurvedic board informed that a public notice has been issued on September 21 in various newspapers to warn such practitioners and legal notices have been served on advertisers.
Source: Express News Service