It seems things are going wrong in almost every important sector. After mind-boggling stories regarding adulteration of foods appeared in the newspapers, we have come to learn that a mobile court found in the city a factory producing insulin illegally, and the law enforcers also had to close down over 50 clinics, nursing homes and diagnostic centres in Mymensingh town which could come nowhere near the requirements set by the health authorities.

The news is indeed cause for great concern. Insulin is known to be a life-saving drug and when it is produced illegally, there is reason to believe that it is a substandard commodity that will put the lives of the users at risk. Yet, these fake medicine factories, which are discovered from time to time, seem to be enjoying a kind of impunity that could only be result of the authorities' insensitivity to such an important public health issue. What is particularly worrying is that the fake producers are never punished the way they should be. Only that can explain why the unscrupulous elements still dare run the illegal business and cause incalculable damage to the users.

No less worrying is the fact that clinics and nursing homes have mushroomed in the cities and towns like grocery shops and it is not at all clear what service these ill-equipped medicare centres run by lay persons provide to society. The law enforcers have discovered clinics run by fake doctors and nurses! Again, this poses a grave threat to public health and it is really difficult to comprehend how so many of them could exist in a town where surveillance is supposed to be reasonably good. If this can go on in a town, how can we blame the quacks swindling people in rural areas?

The mobile courts are doing a good job. However, it has to be ensured that people responsible for manufacturing spurious drugs or setting up clinics that cannot cater to our health needs are not only arrested but also tried and convicted for committing a culpable crime against citizens. Finally, the government should develop a mechanism for the courts to operate round the year.