The nation can’t afford to have doctors turned away due to the Health Professions Council’s ‘flawed and unnecessary procedures’, the TAC says.
Mere days before the departure of respected French HIV expert Francoise Louis, civil society group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) yesterday made an impassioned plea to Health Minister Aaron Motsoledi to curb the powers of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) on registering foreign-trained doctors.
Despite being faced with an enormous shortage of doctors, the HPCSA – with its stringent processes requiring foreign trained specialists and general practitioners to first undergo further education in South Africa, before being allowed to practice – has been behind the exodus of some of the best medical minds.
Having lost her seven-year protracted battle for registration by the HPCSA, Louis – part of the team who developed the national HIV treatment protocol in the country – is set to leave on Saturday. ….more
