Stop Capping Medical and Dental Council: Parliamentary Committee Tells Government

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Hon. Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, has called on the government to stop capping the Medical and Dental Council and provide them with the needed resources to be able to work well.

According to him, the continued capping of the council is not in the interest of the country.

He stated that the council is confronted with numerous challenges that are hampering its ability to carry out its job.

Speaking at a day’s official visit by the committee to the council on Wednesday, Dr. Afriyie disclosed that the biggest challenge facing the council was the fact that they don’t have offices all around the country, so they are unable to conduct routine checks to weed out quack doctors, among others.

He also called on the general public to stay away from interfering in the operations of the council and has threatened that should the committee come across any of them, they will be compelled to name and shame such people.

“So we want the public to know that we will support them in the committee of parliament. Your committee will support the agency. And unless we don’t see or find big men who interfere in issues, we will name you and deal with you because the people have brought us into parliament to do their work and we will do that without fear or favour,” he added.

He also commended the council for working in peace and harmony with the various security agencies such as the Ghana Police Service and the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO), among others, and promised that the committee would do everything possible to see that the work of the council moves on smoothly and effectively. 

Dr. Afriyie also said that they were also pleased to learn from the council that this was the first time the committee on health, which was mandated by law to have oversight oversight authority over the council, paid the council a working visit.

For his part, the chairman of the council, Prof. Paul Kwame Nyame, thanked the committee for all that it has been doing for the council.