A crackdown by health authorities in Guangdong has led to the closure of thousands of hospitals and clinics operating without correct licenses, statistics released on Saturday show.

On May 20, the Guangdong Provincial Health Bureau dispatched 40,000 investigators to 11,300 hospitals, in a large-scale campaign to bring an end to unlicensed hospitals.

Up to June 25, 8,680 illegal hospitals and clinics had been closed, according to Huang Xiaoling, vice-director of the health bureau.

Investigators confiscated 7.55 million yuan (US$900,000) in illegal income, and fined the hospitals over 3.6 million yuan (US$430,000).

Tiancheng Hospital, located in the northern suburbs of Guangzhou, was one hospital to be closed.

Covering thousands of square meters, the large hospital possesses all the equipment and treatment rooms necessary in a qualified hospital.

But it did not have the required legal license, and the majority of doctors on its staff had no medical certificates.

A doctor surnamed Wu was caught practicing without a medical license.

A doctor can take 3 percent of the medical cost of a prescription, so doctors prescribed as much medicine as possible, according to Wu.

According to the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou, the court accepted and heard 31 cases brought against illegal hospitals and doctors in 2004, far more than the 2003 figure of 14.

Some victims were injured or even died from malpractice at the hospitals and 80 percent of the victims were pregnant women.

(China Daily June 28, 2005)