Why people turn to quacks

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Claims of a sure cure is the main reason why many people, particularly those with chronic illness, go to quacks, according to several health experts.
Others go to them because they are cheap.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said many people turn to quacks and bomoh because they were better listeners.
"They take time to listen to their clients’ problems and that is what many want.
"They are also good in convincing people into buying their products, claiming these can cure and do wonders," he added.
"People must realise they are endangering their lives and throwing away their money. If they are cured, it is good. But if they develop complications, then who is to blame?"
Dr Latiff advised the public to be cautious and if they came across anyone practising medicine illegally or had doubts about a practitioner, to inform the Health Ministry or the Malaysian Medical Council.
He was responding to the closure of 16 clinics and a small hospital practising traditional medicine because they were run by bogus doctors or novice housemen.
The latest bogus practitioner nabbed was a 63-year-old man who had been passing himself off as a dentist for 29 years. He was caught by health officers in Jinjang here.
In the treatment room located next to the kitchen of his flat was a dental chair, antibiotics, painkiller, syringes, bottles containing Chinese medicine and other items.
The man, who had never studied dentistry, said he used to assist an army dentist during visits to Felda settlements for which he was paid a daily wage of RM7. He said he learnt the trade by watching the dentist at work.
Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s head of Medicine Department, Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Sinnadurai said bogus doctors could make claims that they could cure diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart ailments.
"People who are desperate for a cure fall for them without realising that they may be putting their lives at risk," he said.
He said if anyone had any doubts about the person whom they are seeking treatment from, they can go online to check whether he or she was a registered doctor.
A web portal set up by MMC — www.mmc.gov.my — will tell whether the doctors are registered with the Health Ministry, where they were trained, and where they practised.
The Health Ministry’s medical practice director, Dr Mohd Khairi Yakub, said some people seek the help of quacks after hearing good things.
"It’s time Malaysians read what is highlighted in the media about bogus doctors and quacks.
"The problem is that people do not read and they believe what other people say," he added.