Medical Council faults government on bogus doctors
Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) has faulted government for failing to fund the process of introducing biometric identity cards for medical practitioners despite the approval by Public Service Reforms Commission.
The delay on the part of government to introduce the system is happening at a time when cases of bogus doctors who use fake IDs to impersonate medical practitioners are high.
The move to implement the system has now been halted as MCM claims there are no funds.
The council further claimed that this is frustrating their efforts to curb the malpractice which seems to be escalating.
According to the board chair of the council, who is also the newly-elected deputy chairperson of Medical Association of Africa (MAA) John Chisi, biometric identity cards will help to store all the details of all medical practitioners so that they can be easily identified.
These IDs he said will differ from the ones medical experts are currently using which are easily forged since they do not have distinctive features.
Chisi further explained that Malawi health delivery system will not improve unless the malpractice is thoroughly dealt with.
As a regulatory body, he said they have come up with different mechanisms to ensure that this kind of criminal practice is eradicated but feared that, without funding, their efforts might be fruitless.
“The process has been approved by Public Reforms Commission and we were hoping that government will support the initiative but currently the health sector is encountering financial challenges, hence we are stuck,” said Chisi who added that all is not lost as they are now expected to hold talks with government to map the way forward.
Commenting on the matter, spokesperson for the ministry of health Adrian Chikumbe said he could not disclose everything about what the ministry is doing since it is a security issue.
On his part, executive director for the Health and Rights Education Programme in Malawi, Maziko Matemba said: “I am aware government is sailing through troubled waters financially and the ministry of health is failing to provide high quality health services so implementing the programme could be another challenge but all in all, it is a matter of prioritising because health of citizens is crucial.”
Matemba said the desire to come up with biometric system is a welcome development but there need to find ways on how best can this can be implemented.
“This is an important initiative and in the meantime my plea is that government should provide another mechanism that can help patients and guardians to identify authentic medical personnel on duty as we wait for the IDs,” said Matemba.
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