The Ministry of Health has started regulating advertisements by health professionals in an effort to end false or exaggerated claims, such as those that promise to cure AIDS.
But some traditional healers and pharmacists are unhappy about the ministry’s efforts, saying the government is hurting their efforts to make a living and also harming those who are ill and need their help.
Chin Cheav, deputy director for the hospital services department in the Health Ministry, said doctors, pharmacists and others in the health profession must send their ads to the ministry for inspection before they are published or broadcast in the media.
The ministry wants to be sure the ads are suitable to be publicized to avoid people making false claims, advertising miracle cures and selling fake medicine.
“They claim they can cure AIDS, but no medicine is able to cure AIDS,” Chin Cheav said. “This is a lie and a way to cheat money out of patients.”
Some have also advertised they can turn a girl who has had sex into a virgin or claim that they can boost men’s sexual performance.
“We don’t want to prevent them from doing business, but they should not say this kind of thing in public and in the media,” she said.
Tao Srun, a traditional healer, said he has stopped seeing patients because he is afraid of being accused of doing something wrong. He claims he can cure people who do not have a serious case of AIDS and said the ministry is affecting the lives of all those who have AIDS and other viruses he can cure.
“What I was doing was saving lives and helping people to survive, but what I get back is being called a cheater,” he said.
Dr Gavin Scott, who specializes in tropical illnesses, said while he isn’t happy with the new regulation, he can’t complain because the ministry is trying to put a stop to those who advertise “rubbish.”
“It’s like a crackdown on anything,” he said. “The good people get caught up with the bad people.”
Dr Ung Phirun, secretary of state for the Health Ministry, said the false claims are especially unfair to people who are desperate, like those who have AIDS, causing them to spend a lot of money for cures that do not exist. ‘They are inhuman, and they are not professionals,” he said.
