…As Tambuwal rallies support for medlab council
Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has stressed the importance of medical laboratory inspection as a very important quality management measure and one of the statutory functions of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) as a regulatory entity.
He said this while flagging off the nationwide inspection of medical laboratories by the regulatory body at the Sokoto Specialist Hospital, Sokoto.
According to him, the inspection exercise, which is fully supported by the Ministry, is also essential to ensuring that test results from medical laboratories in the country are accurate, reliable, reproducible and timely.
“Therefore, MLSCN’s mandate is to ensure that medical laboratories offering services to Nigerians attain and maintain global best practices,” he said.
While noting that the essence of the protocol for the inspection of medical laboratories, which has been approved by the Federal Ministry of Health, is to ensure that stakeholders and practitioners of medical laboratory science alike, know what is expected of them and what is expected of MLSCN, the Minister of State added that the “rules of engagement should be uniform, unequivocal, detailed and well publicised.”
He reiterated the advice of the Ministry to tertiary institutions in the country, to commence the process of accreditation of their laboratory facilities as soon as possible, as the Federal Government desired to start raising the quality of laboratory services and other service areas in the health sector to the highest internationally acceptable level.
Meanwhile, while speaking at the event, the Sokoto State Governor, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Bashiru Garba, also canvassed support for the Council in carrying out its statutory functions with a view to sanitizing medical laboratory services sector.
In his address, the Acting Registrar/CEO, MLSCN, Sir Tosan Erhabor assured that the Council would not waver in the fight to eliminate quackery even though the task may be daunting due to the desperate and self-serving nature of the quacks.
Erhabor solicited the support and cooperation of the stakeholders to ensure the success of the nationwide inspection exercise to enable Council to sanitize the medical laboratory services sector.