By: Moses M. Tokpah
Liberia-The Chairperson of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) is weeping for more budgetary support to enable the entity address and face numerous challenges and constraints hampering efficiency and productivity.
Dr. Benetta Collins-Andrews who made the appeal said the LMDC is faced with numerous constraints that are impeding its function across the country, for which she said there is a need for more budgetary allotment and disbursement.
She named some of the constraints, which she said are not unique to her entity alone, as inadequate funding, the lack of functional vehicles, and the lack of capacity building for LMDC’s staff amongst others.
Dr. Collins-Andrews said her time at LMDC a year ago, she is using her personal vehicle to carry out her functions as head of the institution, adding “because the council is not capacitated to be everywhere, there is a negligible presence around the country where people are doing their own thing with the citizens.”
The LMDC Chairperson said the Council is facing difficulty in verifying licensure among other things because of financial constraint.
More besides, she further stated that the Council does not have regional offices in any part of the country due to financial constraint and the low number of staff it has.
“We don’t have regional presences, because we don’t expect to have 15 offices around the country, but at least we should have four offices North, South, East and West that people can run to and say somebody operated on me and that one happened and this one happened” she recounted.
“So, the way forward is to ask our government for increase budgetary allotment and disbursement because that two different things, they will allot it but then you can’t get the disbursed.
So that’s another thing, they will say come and see it is in the budget line but it never comes out of the budget line; and unfortunately, I am not a politician I am a technician so I don’t understand some of those jargons,” she said.
Dr. Collins-Andrews has urged the government to exercise strong political will, to ensure that the Medical Regulatory laws are equitably implemented to the fullest against violators regardless of their economic standing.
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