Medical And Dental Council
Officials Meet President Kabbah
By Yusuf Alghali
President
of the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Council
(SLMDC) Dr. E.C. Cummings has briefed President
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah about their current activities
and problems while at the same time soliciting
government's support.
The
ten-member Council is the highest regulatory
medical body in the land, established by Decree
(now Act) No. 12 of 1994. Its mandate is to
register and discipline medical practitioners
and dental surgeons; draw up a Code of Ethics
to regulate their conduct; recognise and accredit
institutions for medical an
d
dental education and supervise the training
and subsequent assessment of housemen for permanent
registration.
According
to Dr. Cummings, many doctors evade registration
in spite of various efforts of Council to reach
them and explain the legal implications of practising
their profession without being registered with
the Council. He said a sizeable proportion of
locally-trained and registered housemen have
left the country seeking greener pastures with
adverse effects on the health sector.
In
the area of legislation, Dr. Cummings observed
that many significant amendments have been made
to the Medical Practitioners and Dental Surgeons
Act No. 12 of 1994 piloted through Cabinet by
the Minister of Health and Sanitation. He said
many more amendments affecting the functions
of Council's Disciplinary Committee still await
the action of the Minister.
Highlighting
Council's financial constraints, Dr. Cummings
stressed that his organisation has great difficulty
accessing funds. He spoke of efforts made to
secure
budgetary allocation by the Ministry of Finance.
President
Kabbah expressed profound appreciation for the
work of the SLMDC, stressing that government
was fully supportive of their cause. He, however,
explained that government could not at this
point in time provide all the financial requirements
of the Council, but assured them that as soon
as the economy picked up due consideration would
be given to all of their stated concerns. He
therefore called on Council members to be patient
as government was now trying hard to tackle
a range of social and other critical needs.
-End-
