Qatari authorities said that they have found more than 60 fake medical certificates submitted by people working in private clinics.
The bogus documents were discovered during a scrutiny programme launched in April, to assess the authenticity of all medical documents, following a surge of more than 100 per cent in the number of foreigners applying for medical licences to practise in Qatar, officials said.
"Every week we discover two to three fake certificates presented by people engaged in the profession of medicine, nursing or other medical professions and who came from all over the world," Dr Jamal Rashid Khanji, director of the Medical Licenses Department at the Supreme Health Council, was quoted as saying by the Qatari News. The fake official papers ranged from university degrees to experience certificates and certificates of competence and most of them were in nursing, the most widespread specialization in the health sector, he said.
According to Khanji, the Supreme Health last April commissioned DataFlow, an international document verification and screening company, to verify all the documents, certificates and experience summaries submitted by people seeking a medical position in Qatar.
The unprecedented authenticity verification covers the credentials of the medical staff hired before April and those who are currently applying for positions. Only diplomas granted by Qatar-based universities have been exempted from the check.
The verification process is being carried out by the US company in compliance with the highest standards and procedures, the health official said.
Khinji said that people holding fake certificates would be promptly sacked while serious cases, mostly related to the practice of medicine without a college degree, would be prosecuted.
People whose certificates or degrees are proven to be fake will also be included in a blacklist to be circulated in all GCC countries.
