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. |