Why is the government taking so long to implement the National Health Laboratory Policy

The National Health Laboratory Policy, when signed, will be a Legal Instrument (LI) to legally enforce the restructuring, regulating, monitoring, among others. The LI will enforce the flushing out of quackery in the service delivery chain of Medical Laboratory and safeguard the health of the citizenry and ensure that the citizenry of Ghana gets the best out of the Medical Laboratory service delivered to them at all times. These and others are objectives enshrined in the National Health Laboratory Policy, which for "political" reasons, the document has been left gathering dust under the shelves of the Ministry of Health for more than a decade, to the detriment of the Ghanaian.

The right thing has to be done. Why is it that previous and current Government is refusing to implement this policy? Is there something we should know? I support this action. The talking is enough we need action. The launch of these policy documents is long overdue. As a practising professional I'm disappointed it's taking us this long to launch and implement documents that are essential for safeguarding patient safety and quality of clinical lab testing in general.

The laboratory is central to healthcare practice of every robust healthcare system. This means that upon my estimation, about 60% to 70% of all decisions regarding a patient's diagnosis, treatment, hospital admission, and discharge are based on the results of the tests of medical laboratory scientists performance. Yet GHANA is without National Health Laboratory Policy for over 60years of Independence what really baffles my mind is, there are so many health centres which still practice treatment based on signs and symptoms in the midst of so many diseases in our era, which presents with same signs and symptoms.

Meanwhile, there are so many laboratory scientists who can perform tests at any level of our health facility rotten at home jobless. The laboratory plays a central role in disease surveillance and control, and in the provision of accurate health data for national health planning and resource mobilization.

In fact, medical laboratory service is a critical component of strong national health systems, yet Ghanaian laboratories are often neglected in hospital management and resource allocations. These affect the health of many people, particularly those in rural and under-served areas on Ghana who still do not have access to basic reliable diagnostic laboratory services. This is unfair to the laboratory scientists and Ghanaian citizens as a whole.

NHLP will protect public health and institutionalize standardization of laboratory medicine. The policy will go a long way to help streamline activities in various labs in Ghana. It will also see improvements in the service and conditions of various ranks in the lab profession. If there's a National Laboratory Policy, the politics in the health sector would be a thing of the past.

The establishment and implementation of this comprehensive National Health Laboratory Policy document will provide the framework for coordinated development and delivery of quality and accessible laboratory services nationwide. It shall also provide technical guidance to effectively manage medical laboratories in Ghana.

These include the ;

a) organizational and management structure

the regulatory framework

b)Laboratory human resources plan

laboratory infrastructure

c)Care and maintenance of laboratory equipment

d)Provision of laboratory supplies

e)A functional information management system

d)Laboratory quality assurance and

e)Biorisk management systems and overall resource and financial management.

The document also proposes a structure for better coordination of activities among health programmes, institutions and partners at all levels of the health system.

It is important to implement this policy in order to properly position our laboratories to be ready at all times during critical moments like in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic where laboratory services are crucial for timely contact tracing and containment of the disease.

When this NHLP is implemented, then the practice of Medical Laboratory Science and the training of Medical Laboratory Scientists of high knowledge, competence and versatility in our nation then Ghana will be leading to a quality, affordable and accessible of Medical Laboratory Service Delivery nationwide.

THE GOVERNMENT MUST IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL HEALTH LABORATORY SERVICE NOW.

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