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Minister appoints new medics council registrar amid doctors’ cheers

By  Dr Syriacus Buguzi

What you need to know:

  • The Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu announced the appointment of the new registrar of the Medical Council of Tanganyika, Dr  David Mzava at the 50th National Health Conference in Dodoma.
  • The new appointment comes at a time of a clamour for doctors' full representation at the council. For many years, MCT registrar was a lawyer who did not have medical background.

Dodoma. Cheers greeted the 50th National Health Conference Hall in Dodoma on Wednesday October 24 as the health Minister Ummy Mwalimu announced that she had appointed Dr David Paulo Mzava as the new registrar of the Medical Council of Tanganyika (MCT).

Doctors who spoke to The Citizen said the new changes mean that for the first time, medics will have one of their own to represent them at the ethos council. They spoke during the conference, organized by the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT).

Dr Mzava, a medic, also holds a law degree from the Open University of Tanzania. The decision to appoint the new registrar meant to cater for the needs of doctors but also ensure that the medico-legal aspects were handled professionally. 

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MCT is mandated to oversee medical and dental practice in Tanzania and was empowered to ensure safe and effective practice for all medical doctors and dentists.

However, for many years, the MCT registrar was a lawyer. This, according to doctors, means the views of the medics were not well represented in ethics meetings and registration process.

 Health experts have been pushing for their representation at the MCT, a body which is housed within the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Dar es Salaam.

In the evening on Wednesday, October 24, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu announced in Dodoma that she had signed new regulations under the new Medical, Dental and Allied Health Professionals Act 2017, which necessitates the registrar to be a medical professional.

“These regulations have come with changes,’’ she said. “They are going to improve the practice; and when they are finally gazetted, it means that doctors and dentists will now be obliged to partake continuing professional development programmes,” said the Minister.

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