DAMMAM, 20 February 2007 — Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie has emphasized the need for taking legal action against a satellite channel that broadcast claims that a sorcerer could cure 43 diseases.
Al-Manie made this announcement on Saturday while opening a four-day forum on “permanent diseases” organized by the Dhahran Exhibition Center in association with the Health Ministry and Saad Specialist Hospital.
Fifty companies representing Arab and Gulf countries are taking part in the forum. “The sorcerer claimed that he had studied at King Saud University and an American university but the two universities have stressed that the man has never been their student,” the minister said.
Al-Manie said that the black magician was exploiting the condition of patients desperately looking for a cure. “The Health Ministry is currently providing treatment to some of the patients who had dealt with the sorcerer,” he added.
The minister emphasized the need for taking joint action to stop this sorcerer. “If he does not stop this practice we’ll ask the GCC health ministers to file a joint lawsuit against him,” he said and cautioned patients against dealing with such charlatans.
Al-Manie said the ministry would also close down centers that provide cupping services. “We still don’t give any license for practicing cupping as its benefits have not yet been proved scientifically,” he added.
