Following the arrest of four health workers operating without proper academic docments, IGIHE has established that the problem of fake academic documents is much wider.
The National Council for Nurses and Midwives has organised re-assessment exams for several health practitioners with suspected fake academic documents.
About 15,000 applications from nurses and midwives are set to be re-assessed.
Munyandinda Jean Bosco in charge of administration and finance at the NCNM told IGIHE that the council is in process of reviewing those applications and grant a license to nurses and midwives that qualify.
He said that the exercise takes time given the amount of applications they have received.
As soon as the final list of nurses and midwives who fall into this category is known , the council will set an exam for them to validate their qualifications.
Munyandinda noted that some nurses and midwives who studied outside of Rwanda bring fake diplomas into the Rwanda medical profession.
More than 25 cases had been discovered and were handed over to the court and police.
Rutavogerwa Janvier, the legal adviser of the council told IGIHE that it is difficult to review applications from nurses and midwifes who completed their studies outside Rwanda especially those from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In this situation, the council normally contacts councils from other countries to know if applicants had successfully completed their studies in the medical field.
He said that it is easy for the council to contact its counterparts in Kenya, Uganda, among others but when it comes to DRC it is challenging because the council from there doesn’t exist.
The council want to make sure that those practicing the medical profession in Rwanda are really qualified in order to protect the public from medical malpractices said Rutavogerwa.
He mentioned a case at “Kamonyi Centre de Sante” in 2012 where a woman who was about to give birth was neglected by nurses and midwives to the point the baby died. Two nurses were definitely suspended. A situation like this is not a welcome in Rwanda`s medical field, said Rutavogerwa.
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