In a powerful and surprising intervention that has directly questioned the standards of medical practice, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has issued a command for comprehensive investigations and possible disciplinary actions against the doctors who have claimed and promoted unapproved ‘miracle cures’ without basis, warning that their medical licenses might be suspended or revoked if they do not provide scientific evidence for their claims.
On Sunday, Duale made his statement, which was the government’s staunchest response so far to the heated debate about the health professionals who seemed to support the assertion of miraculous cures—among them, the allegations that serious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and disabilities were healed through faith-based interventions at a major religious gathering in Nakuru.
Duale, the health chief, said, “Health and life must be built only on the foundations of science, ethics, and evidence-based medicine,” thus proclaiming the Ministry of Health’s firm stand against the doctoring of information to zero.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has been instructed to act straight away to authenticate the clinical papers that were the basis for such claims and to identify and punish any doctors who cannot provide rigorous proof.
The Ministry of Health said that while the spiritual belief was to be respected, it did not extend to the acceptance of medical claims that had no verifiable clinical backing and were made by licensed professionals whose statements had authority and could influence public opinion.
Duale remarked that false claims could cost lives, as they might dissuade patients from undergoing the already available treatments and also make the public lose trust in the health sector.
KMPDC’s expected inquiry is going to be mainly centered around the testimonies that were given at the crusade in Nakuru, where some of the doctors were said to have made extraordinary recoveries public.
Regulators have given a stern warning that those physicians who will not be able to back up their endorsements with solid clinical evidence will face very harsh disciplinary actions, among which is even the possibility of having their licenses revoked.
The radical decision of the Health Ministry to take such a step has come at a time when there is an increasing public concern about the issue of misinformation and the communication of health science quality degradation.
According to the analysts, Duale’s ultimatum is so strong that it may establish a new trend for stricter enforcement of the medical standards and ethics, thereby making the practice supported by evidence stronger even in the case where baseless allegations might easily spread and catch the patients who are most easily influenced.
Leave a Reply