Naming four…
MINISTER of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has warned that the rules regarding medical practice in Guyana are clear and persons practicing medicine without valid licences, issued by the Medical Council, are defrauding the Guyanese people, In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, he said he stands by and commends the Medical Council’s efforts to ensure that standards in the health sector are maintained and the Guyanese people are exposed to professionals who are deemed fit to practice.
However, Ramsammy said the Health Ministry is not an uninterested bystander, as the Medical Council (MC), an independent body, executes a function that belongs to it.
“We use an arm’s length approach, which is a best practice across the world. Defrauding the public is not acceptable,” he said.
Ramsammy spoke after the Medical Council, yesterday, released the names of four persons who are not licensed to practice, in a bid to ensure that the general public is not defrauded.
The persons named are Dr. Abdul Mohamed Hafiz, Dr. Abdul Wahab, Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud and Dr. John Austin, a People’s National Congress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-1G) Member of Parliament (MP).
Ramsammy said his ministry is aware that Austin is practising and described the practice as unconscionable.
“Dr. Austin is an experienced person, not a new doctor. It is an unconscionable act and an insult to the National Parliament that a member shows such disregard for the laws of the land,” he said.   
Ramsammy said that, as an MP, Austin should be both cognisant and compliant with the laws regarding practice as a medical doctor.
He said the issue of Austin’s practice was dealt with by the MC and the courts and Austin is not in possession of a licence.
“If he believes that the Courts and the Medical Council were wrong, then he has access to facilities to appeal that decision but, unless the Courts instruct otherwise, he cannot practice,” Ramsammy said.
He said no disregard of the laws will be tolerated, moreso by an MP and declared that Austin has done a disservice to the Guyanese people, an electorate to which the PNCR-1G has to go to this year.
In the case of Persaud, Ramsammy said, as far as he is aware, the decision of the MC has been accepted and he is no longer practising.

Cooperative
“He has been cooperative. He was registered with the Medical Council and subsequently, licensed to practice, but had his licence revoked because of a conviction in a New York Court,” the Minister revealed.
Ramsammy pointed out; too, that practice by a convicted sex offender, like Persaud, is illegal in Guyana.
About Hafiz and Wahab, the Minister said the MC is not convinced of their qualification as medical doctors.
The MC remains unconvinced that Hafiz completed the internship requirements and has offered him an institutional licence, with which he could work under supervision for a year before being granted a full licence but he has not accepted the offer and the matter is now before the Court, Ramsammy said.
With reference to Wahab, he said the MC has been unable to verify that he was certified by the college he claims, from where other health sector professionals have graduated and been licensed to practice in Guyana.
Ramsammy said all medical doctors had up to the end of January to ensure that they are relicenced and, failing which, serious consequences can follow.
In the Public Sector, he said contracts can be terminated, causing a break in service while, in the Private Sector, an institution’s licence will be jeopardised if persons without valid licences are in its employ.
Regardless of the sector, police action can be taken on the count of illegal practice, Ramsammy said, appealing to the citizenry to be aware of the law and not be defrauded. 
He said the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police have been alerted and expressed the hope that they would act with some diligence in pursuing the matter.