Medical Council moves to clamp down on fake doctors and forged certificates

The Medical and Dental Council of Ghana (MDC) has warned that quackery remains one of the gravest threats to medical practice in the country.

Between 2024 and the third quarter of 2025, four individuals were arrested for practising medicine without a licence, while several more are under investigation, with cases heading for prosecution. The Council has also uncovered instances where individuals submitted forged qualifications in a bid to gain clearance to practise.

Registrar of the MDC, Dr. Divine Ndonbi Banyubala, told journalists that although such practices cut across different regions and professions, the Council is resolute in tackling the menace.

“Detecting quackery is a very difficult task. One of the things that we are doing, and we are taking it up with the National Health Insurance Authority, is to ensure a policy we call practitioner name tag and stamp policy so that we expect that when you remain in the care environment, you should be professionally and appropriately tagged with your name, your picture ID and your designation.

“Because even if you get to the healthcare space there are all kinds of doctors, but that confuses people. Not all of them are medical doctors, and it creates patients' health and safety issues,” he said.

Under the proposed policy, set to be rolled out by 2026 in partnership with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), all health practitioners will be required to carry name tags and stamps that can be easily verified by patients.

According to the MDC, these reforms will help restore public trust in Ghana’s healthcare system and limit the risks posed by fraudulent practitioners.