JOIN USMedical practice without a valid registration, licence or basic facilities is under-reported in the state.
There are only 1,945 quacks in the state, according to the report by Department of Health and Family Welfare. The report is a collation of data after a survey conducted in November 2017 in all the 30 districts in the state.
The report said Bidar district with 276 quacks topped the list of either unregistered centres or unlicensed practitioners. It is followed by Kalaburagi (176) and Tumakuru (163).
Only eight quack centres were found in Bengaluru Urban district and while there were none in Bengaluru Rural district, the report said. "Just eight quack centres in Bengaluru is not true. It is certainly under reported," said a senior official from the BBMP.
"Door-to-door surveys are conducted by district health officers often. These surprise visits will reveal the number of quacks," said Dr T S Prabhakar, joint director (medical), Health Department.
He said identifying unregistered centres or unlicensed professionals is done as per the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act.
Dr Prabhakar said the district health officer is supposed to conduct door-to-door inspections. However, there are not enough inspections, he added.
Bengaluru Urban District Health Officer Dr Ramesh Babu said the eight quack centres related to the cases pending in courts. The actual number of centres and quacks in the city will be known only when a survey is conducted. The survey will be conducted after two months.
Dr Prabhakar said that all the quack centres have been ordered to shut shop. Some of them approach court due to which they may get a stay order and continue to function.
"Most of these cases are reported from remote areas than in the city limits and are usually small clinics. If they do not oblige, then a complaint will be filed with the police," he said. Such cases are mostly found among practitioners of Ayurveda, he added.