[Photo/Xinhua]

THE MINISTRY OF Civil Affairs recently published a blacklist of 84 non-governmental organizations, including a Hong Kong-based one that promoted drinking urine as a treatment for cancer. The group, which had over 100,000 members, was disqualified on the Chinese mainland 12 years ago yet re-registered in Hong Kong afterwards. Beijing Times commented on Wednesday:

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, most of the unapproved social organizations on the list were founded to rake in so-called membership fees from senior citizens on the mainland.

The head of this "Urine Treatment Association" insisted that the sick should stop seeing doctors and drink their urine instead, despite such treatment being questioned and opposed by most medical experts. In other words, the urine treatment was nothing but a scam.

Absurd as this claim is, some 100,000 people believed it and joined the group. However, they should not be blamed for being tricked, because they are no doubt desperately clinging to the hope of a cure for their illnesses.

Although it has been proved that drinking urine will not cure any illness and may even have unhealthy side-effects, the longevity of this "association" has a lot to do with the lack of information disclosure and judicial intervention. Some media reports even endorsed the urine treatment, directly and indirectly, and refrained from pointing out the truth.

The promoters of urine as a medical treatment cajoled some members into buying other products with claims of enhancing its efficacy, which is another scam. Such cons must be seriously dealt with along with their endorsers behind the scenes.