Unlicensed medical clinics pervade city’s outskirts
Source:Global Times Published: 2013-3-18 23:03:01
Shanghai's health bureau has found that about 82 percent of the city's unlicensed clinics last year were operating in suburban or rural areas, health officials announced at a press conference Monday.
The finding has sparked concerns about the rise of unlicensed clinics in the city's outskirts, as the number of such clinics downtown has fallen, the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau's public health inspection agency said.
The health bureau and local police went on more than 2,000 raids of unlicensed clinics for a citywide campaign last year. Authorities found that the clinics were either operating without a license or employed practitioners without medical credentials. They slapped more than 100 unlicensed physicians with criminal charges last year.
Authorities also closed down a group of illegal clinics that either refused to move or reopened after they were punished. About 90 percent of the unlicensed clinics in the city specialize in dentistry or internal medicine, the agency said.
The authorities also said they plan to improve medical services for Shanghai's population of migrant workers, who primarily reside in the suburbs, and vowed to crack down harder on unlicensed medical services.