Rwanda Medical Council (RMC), an independent body responsible for registering Medical Practitioners and representing all doctors in the country, is drafting a guide that will protect all medical practitioners as well as indicating patient’s rights, The New Times has learnt.

The development coincided with the commemoration of the International Labour Day.

"The council is drafting a book that will contain clearly stipulated articles to protect both medical practitioners and patients,” said Dr. Innocent Gakwaya, the President of the Rwanda Medical Council.

"Presently we do not have it in place. It is therefore difficult to settle differences between medical practitioners and patients in case anything goes wrong.”

Gakwaya added that medical practitioners have had it rough and others have ended up losing their jobs because there is no written document to protect them.

"It is important to protect both the doctors and patients. The only way to achieve this is by setting rules that will govern the two parties,” he emphasized.

He said some people were reporting cases against medical practitioners because others had done so.

"A person reported a case in my office, but because he lacked enough evidence to prove his case, he never came back. It would have been better if this person was located because some of our workers are suffering due to such people,” he noted.

He also called upon the public to realize the great job medical practitioners were doing, explaining the difficult working conditions that might hinder their performance.

"Doctors have a lot of work in the hospitals. I have been told that over 25 operations are carried out at Muhima Hospital over the weekend. If out of the 25 operations, one is not successful, then all the 24 successful operations will not be appreciated,” he said.

Ends