The District Medical Officer along with the health wing officials of the City Corporation on Friday conducted raids on medical laboratories and dental clinics across the district and ordered the closing down of 18 of them for working without licences and in unhygienic conditions. Raids were conducted on 110 labs and clinics.
“One of the major issues we found was that lab technicians without proper qualifications were working in some labs. This is a serious issue as doctors depend on the diagnosis from the labs. Also, some X-ray labs did not have radiation safety measures, which meant that radiation could leak into the house or shop next door,” said a health official.
In a few dental clinics, doctors without licence from the Kerala Dental Council were found to be practising. Sterilisation of equipment was not properly done in the labs. The waste disposal mechanism was also found wanting in 43 labs. Notices were served on 89 establishments, including 78 labs, 3 x-ray labs and eight dental clinics.
“We started this drive as incidence of Hepatitis B and C had increased in recent times,” said the official.
