This decision, which was agreed upon by the SCHS board of trustees, is seen as a watershed moment in trying to ensure a safe health sector free of fraudulent activities.

Dr. Abdulaziz bin Hassan, secretary-general of the SCHS, said that documenting qualifications has become a key principle for crediting domestic and international hospitals and health facilities.

He said the SCHS had signed a five-year contract with a company to help verify the qualifications of health workers. The company gets a copy of a health worker’s certificates from the SCHS and verifies them before contacting the commission.

He said the mechanism of verification and documenting certificates takes one to five weeks. He added these procedures are to ensure the safety of citizens.

The Ministry of Health has discovered some 4,000 fake certificates. According to an official in the SCHS, the fake certificates were found among 20,870 medical certificates presented for verification last year.

He said that workers from South Asia accounted for the highest number of fake certificates. An earlier report from the SCHS confirmed that 16,000 health workers had been banned from practicing in the Kingdom.