Group calls on  Tinubu to direct inauguration of governing councils of various Regulatory agencies in health sector.

. Raises alarm on increasing number of quacks in medical profession.

Jacob Ogodo Abakaliki

Following the rising activities of the menace of quacks with impunity, the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of NIgeria has called on President Bola Tinubu to direct the inauguration of the governing councils of various Regulatory agencies in the health sector, especially that of the Medical Laboratory council of NIgeria.

The National president, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of NIgeria, Dr Kasmir Ifeanyi made the call in the 10- point communique raised by the Association’s at the end of their two days national meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.

Ifeanyi noted that It is the governing board that can set up the tribunal that will investigate and try a culprit, adding that the measure will help to provide quality medical laboratory devices and guarantee patient safety.

The National president lamented that in most places you go to to obtain testing or Medical Laboratory testing are not operated by their members, stressing that they are not registered with the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria and that is because we have retired the police, the governing board is the police.

He regretted that for more than two years now, the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria has been without a board and therefore, the governing board disciplinary committee is now set in abeyance.

“It is because of the activities of the menace quacks and the preprodrance of malpractice that we are calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly make a proclamation for the constitution and hence,  inauguration of the governing boards of regulatory agencies in health especially that of the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria.

“It is the governing board that can set up the tribunal that will investigate and try a culprit. And for more than two years now, the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria has been without a board and therefore, the governing board disciplinary committee is now set in abeyance.

“I also want to say that most places you go to to obtain testing or Medical Laboratory testing are not operated by our members, are not registered with the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria and that is because we have retired the police, the governing board is the police.

“Government must restore the boards so the boards can carry out its mandate of regulating practitioners, regulating facilities, curbing malpractice.

The Association also urged the president to direct the ministry of health to appropriately integrate medical laboratory infrastructure equipment, human resource development in the proposed upgrade of clinical pathology laboratories in the six geopolitical zones.

It also urged the honourable coordinating minister of health to thinker with the proposal for the training of over 120,000 frontilne health workers to accommodate the training of medical laboratory Scientists and Medica laboratory Technicians for the primary health care centres.

Ifeanyi said that they were aware that the the training and the retraining programme as currently articulated did not include medical laboratory workforce.

“We urge the president to direct the review of the health package as inaciuated in the universal health coverage to include medical health components That particular documents is necessary services.

“We also want to plead with the president to direct the management of Teaching Hospital and Federal medical centers in Nigeria and by extension the Federal ministry of health to end the discrimination against medical laboratory Scientists.