Ban ads on ‘miracle dengue cures’ – Health Ministry

by Carol Aloysius

The Health Ministry has called for a total ban on misleading advertisements promising miracle cures for dengue, especially Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF), now rising to epidemic levels.

“These commercial advertisements are usually published in the media by native physicians without qualifications. They are dangerous as people are duped and end up with serious health complications”, Consultant Community Physician Dengue Control Unit, Dr Neetha Pannila Hetti told the Sunday Observer.

She said that these so-called miracle cures were concoctions made in their homes by advertisers who sell them to unsuspecting patients without disclosing the ingredients used.

“They have no labels or written instructions and the Health Ministry has not approved them”, she said.

She said that anyone with symptoms of Dengue or DHF should seek assistance from the nearest state medical facility. “Detection and treatment are free with specially qualified staff to attend to them.

Avoid resorting to alternative medications especially if they are from unregistered indigenous practitioners,” she said. She said that awareness programs to educate the public on the dangers of resorting to alternative medicines from unqualified native physicians were already under way.