Streamline establishment of Medical Laboratories --Health Official

Effiduase, (Ash), Sept 27, GNA - The Government has been called upon to take bold steps to come out with regulations and procedures for the establishment of Medical Laboratories in the country. Mr Dominic Dobbin, the Sekyere-East District Director of Health Services who made the call, said because of the lack of any defined procedure pertaining to the establishment of Medical Laboratories, many unqualified persons have taken advantage of it to set up laboratories. Mr Dobbin made the call at Effiduase on Tuesday, at the launching of the annual Biomedical Week Celebration of the Medical Laboratory Technology Students Association (MELTSA) of the School of Medical Sciences (SMS) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The celebration is being held under the theme: "The role of the Biomedic in curbing the Hepatitis and Tuberculosis (TB) menace in Ghana".

Activities of the week celebration include screening of residents of Effiduase and its environs for anaemia and Hepatitis B, and similar screening exercises for Health students of KNUST and Food Vendors at KNUST, as well as a house-to-house campaign and a Health seminar. Mr. Dobbin said a legal framework for setting up of Medical Laboratories was vital since laboratory profession, which deals with diagnosis play a key role in the health delivery system, and should therefore not be left in the hands of untrained and unqualified people. Touching on the Hepatitis B disease, Mr. Dobbin said it was gathering momentum since between January to date, the District had recorded 18 positive cases, figures for same period last year were however, not immediately available.

Mr Opoku Ocrah, Head of the Department of Medical Laboratory Technology of the KNUST, described Hepatitis as "a slow killer, which was more dangerous than even HIV and should not be taken for granted." He attributed its prevalence to the failure of people to keep their environment clean and also embrace personal hygiene.

Mr Pet-Paul Wepeba, President of the MELTSA, appealed to the Authorities to help establish standards in all schools running Medical Laboratory programmes to enhance their efficiency.