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The Sierra Leone authorities on Tuesday raided a number of surgeries
of suspected unregistered doctors in a government clampdown on the
estimated 200 fake foreign doctors operating in the country.
"We
don't know the exact number of people faking to be doctors and
practising in the country with forged documents but we are determined
to put a stop to this menace," Health Minister Sheiku Tejan Koroma
said, explaining the raids.
"We are estimating that since they
have established throughout the country particularly in the remote
areas, there may be about 200 or more engaged in the illegal practice,"
he told AFP.
The minister said that all foreigners claiming to be
doctors or health personnel now have to be vetted by Sierra Leone's
Medical and Dental Council to have their credentials verified and be
registered to practice.
According to health authorities many foreigners never bother with registration or they falsify documents.
The
clampdown comes after several deaths believed to have been linked to
botched surgeries. A health official who spoke on condition of
anonymity said that last week three men died after undergoing crude
appendix operations.
According to the authorities many of the suspected fake doctors come from China, the Middle East and South East Asia.
Sierra
Leone is struggling to recover from a bloody, decade-long civil war
which ended in 2001. An estimated 120,000 people were killed and
thousands had their limbs hacked off by rebel fighters trying to
overthrow the government.
The health care system is also in
tatters with less than one physician per 10,000 inhabitants, according
to figures from the World Health Organisation.
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