Members of the Paramedical Lab Educational and Welfare Association have petitioned the District Collector Archana Patnaik seeking a ban on roadside mobile health checkup centres, claiming that such facilities are not authorized.

According to N. Sivakumar, district president of the 16-year-old association, said that their business is suffering due to private and mobile health checkup centres on roadsides. “They lure patients by offering 50 percent discounts for treatments. But, we cannot say for sure if they are licensed to conduct such tests,” he said.

He also said that there are chances that such clinics could spread diseases from one patient to the other because it is also possible that technicians at these facilities may not be using clean and disposable equipment. “We request the district administration to take necessary actions and curb such unauthorized persons in the future,” he added.