Monrovia – The Chairperson of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council, Dr. Linda Birch calls on all health facilities to upgrade their hospitals and clinics as inspection kicks-up shortly.
Speaking at the secretariat, Dr. Birch warned health facilities who fail to meet the standards set by LMDC that they will be penalized accordingly.
“Even though we are faced with budgetary issues and support to the council, we will not be deterred by distractive measures. We vowed to ensure that quality health care services are provided to all persons irrespective of race, tribe, gender, nationality, religious affiliation, etc.
She frowned on over the counter treatment and warned patients to seek doctor’s prescription before buying medication to avoid the risk of buying expired or substandard medications that are smuggled on the market.
“Liberia is engulfed with many general practitioners and very low number of specialists. We, therefore, appeal to donors and partners to help by providing more scholarship opportunities to enable postgraduate specializations training,” Dr. Birch said.
Dr. Birch further stated that the A.M. Dogliottie College of Medicine graduates about 30 or more doctors annually. These doctors are subsequently licensed based on completion of the internship in various disciplines as General Practitioners (GP).
“Given this huge number of trained Liberian GPs, the LMDC, in an effort to protect and support Liberian GPs, shall license only Liberian GPs. Non-Liberian GPs shall no longer be licensed. Exemptions shall be granted when LMDC deems it necessary. Only Specialists providing evidence of specialties shall be licensed and qualified to work in Liberia,” Dr. Birch said.