[Answered] “Quackery although increase accessibility to health services in India, but is a big danger to the health of poor.” Discuss.

Demand of the question
Introduction. Contextual Introduction.
Body. Why Quackery is dangerous to general public health?
Conclusion. Way forward.

Almost one-third of those who claim to be allopathic doctors are educated only up to the secondary school level and about 60% did not have any medical qualification, a recent WHO report found on India’s healthcare workforce. The situation is far worse in rural India, where just 20% of allopathic doctors have a medical qualification, the study ‘The Health Workforce in India’ revealed. This pose many risks to general health of public especially poor.

Risk pose by quackery:

  1. Quacks many times recommend unnecessary and harmful drugs to the patients. They may consume something that causes effects other than those promised or expected. This is dangerous and harm health of patient seriously.
  2. Many quacks prescribe their herbal preparations which may result in allergic reactions or with unexpected drug interactions.
  3. The consumers are harmed in a way by wasting money on products that can’t deliver on their promises. This impact poor people especially.
  4. Quackery often lead to misdiagnosis and wrong treatment that pose serious threat to health of the patients.
  5. Due to blind recommendations and usage of antibiotics to treat diseases and get rid of symptoms, many patients end up in developing antibiotics resistance of which quacks are generally unaware of.
  6. Quacks generally recommend improper treatment period and regime on the basis of experience and not on scientific basis. This lead to overdosage and under-dosage many times.
  7. Quacks do not use modern methods and tests like sugar test, urine test leading to misdiagnosis.
  8. They generally lack knowledge of side-effects of many drugs, thereby end up in recommending wrong drugs combination and wrong drug concentration, jeopardising overall health of the patient.
  9. Many quacks still use harmful methods of blood transfusions or use HIV infected syringes leading to AIDS to many patients.
  10. They generally don’t emphasise Hygiene and Sanitation, thereby creating a situation of infectious and communicable disease in already weak immune patients.

Some positive aspects:

  1. They are affordable to poor who may not be able to pay for their costly treatments.
  2. Due to shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, they provide health services to many.

Thus quackery may have helped in increasing accessibility to health services at affordable rate in unreachable areas, they pose a risk to health of public especially poor in many ways. Immediate solution lies in training them with banning quackery after some years combined with efforts to increase doctors in India.

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