LAHORE:The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) on Wednesday sealed three medical laboratories for forging test reports for visa processing of different Gulf states.
According to a spokesperson, the PHC had received a report that travel agents had connived with a few testing laboratories to dupe intending visitors to the Gulf region. They were asked to go through different medical tests at specified labs prior to getting visas and proceeding abroad.
To probe the matter, the PHC teams carried out raids in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, where they sealed Universal Medical Lab (Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore), Gulf Laboratory (Chungi 7, Multan ) and Al-Azan Medical Diagnostic Centre (Saidpur Road, Rawalpindi), respectively. It was found that these so-called labs were not registered with the PHC, and they had no equipment and qualified staff. Neither any pathologist nor qualified staff was appointed to carry out even basic blood tests.
Moreover, these centres did not have any authorisation from any of the Gulf countries. The record of these centres has been confiscated, and notices have been issued to carry out further proceedings against these labs.