Board lifts ban on foreigners' medical camps, sets out new rules

Chairman of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board Prof George Magoha. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The decision was reached at by the Cabinet Secretary for Health in consultation with the board, according to the chairman of the professional body, George Magoha.
  • In the new regulations, foreign doctors will be required to apply for a licence “not less than four weeks before the commencement of the medical camp”.
  • They will also be required to disclose a full list of medical professionals who will attend to patients at the camps as well as the non-medical staff involved in the activity.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board has lifted the ban on medical camps hosted by foreign doctors and released a raft of measures to ensure that such camps are regulated.

The decision was reached at by the Cabinet Secretary for Health in consultation with the board, according to the chairman of the professional body, George Magoha.

The board's move seeks to “protect Kenyans” from some of the foreign doctors who do not have licences to practice in the country or use the camps as hunting grounds for “patients.”

But now a five-page legal notice on the camps seeks to address this, coming after the board banned the camps on June 16.

A medical camp is defined as a temporarily organised activity within a specified locality for purposes of providing free, subsidised or sponsored medical or dental services, surgical, educational and diagnostic services or treatment.

In the new regulations, foreign doctors will be required to apply for a licence “not less than four weeks before the commencement of the medical camp”.

They will also be required to disclose a full list of medical professionals who will attend to patients at the camps as well as the non-medical staff involved in the activity.

“A licence shall be issued only in respect to the site and duration named in the application and shall not apply to any other site or duration unless authorised by the board,” reads the gazette notice signed on July 22 by Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu.

INDEMNITY COVER

Further, the foreign doctors will be required to produce an indemnity cover from a recognised organisation.

Also, applicants for medical camp licences will have to disclose a list of medical equipment and supplies to be used and how the waste will be disposed afterwards.

Each application for the camps — which should not exceed seven days unless an extension is granted by the board — will be charged Sh5,000 and between Sh10,000 to Sh100,000 for establishing the qualifications of the professionals, including assessing their background and legitimacy.

The county government will also need to give prior approval for the camps in writing and the letter must be included in the application for a camp licence.

The board can also reject an application but “before rejecting the application it shall inform the applicant in writing, with a seven days’ notice, giving reasons for the intended rejection.”

When this happens, the applicant may lodge an appeal with the board within seven days of receiving the notice.

Several medical camps for various kinds of cancer, cardiac ailments, reconstructive surgeries, eye problems and other ailments are often hosted in the country by both local and foreign doctors where patients are screened, treated and referred (in and outside the country) for treatment after the camp.

Under the new regulations, those intending to host medical camps will be required to provide information on a referral policy as set out in the approved national referral guidelines.