The Medical Council of Malawi has unveiled plans to automate its records to help counter the problem of fake medical practitioners and illegal clinics in the country.

The council said it currently has 16 000 files of medical personnel which it handles manually, making it hard to instantly respond to public queries.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, the council’s assistant registrar of professional practice Richard Ndovi said they will soon put in place an electronic system they hope will serve the public better.

Ndovi: New system will help us serve the public better

He said: “With the Medical Council going digital it will be easy for members of the public to check if a particular medical person is registered or not, but also if a particular health facility is registered.”

Ndovi said the initiative will curb the long-standing challenge of fake medical practitioners and ensure that people get treated by qualified health personnel.

“Without reporting the fake practitioners and illegal clinics, people are harming the public. The electronic system will also help practitioners easily register and renew their licences, thereby helping the council collect more revenue,” he said.

In a separate interview yesterday, Malawi Health Equity Network executive director George Jobe applauded the move, saying it will help save time when dealing with cases.

He said there is need for registered medical personnel to be assigned a number and have tags bearing those numbers so that people can easily identify them.

“If someone sees the number on the tag, it should be easy to identify the medical practioner,” said Jobe.

Malawi has been registering cases of fake medical practitioners, including at referral hospitals. Some have also been operating illegal clinics which the council closes and fines the culprits when found.

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