Council calls for unity in health sector
Council calls for unity in health sector
By Nana Musa/Amos Rebecca
Healthcare
Abuja, Sept. 3, 2019 (NAN) The Chairman, Governing Board, Medical Laboratory Scientists Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Prof. Muhammad Gwarzo, had called for unity amongst stakeholders in the health sector.
Gwarzo made the appeal at the 55th Annual Scientific Conference and Workshop organised by the association on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said althoug the country consisted of several health related arms, promoting unity is key to achieve meaningful development.
Gwarzo said: “In the health sector they are many divisions and unity is a must for us to be able to achieve our objective of detecting, preventing and responding to health needs.”
Gwarzo said that the theme of conference was timely as there are many emerging diseases which requires all hands to be on deck, to ensure early detection of and prevention.
Mr Tosan Erhabor, the Registrar of MLSCN, assured that the council would improve medical laboratory system.
According to him, the council will improve laboratory services delivery through timely response to treatment of diseases.
“We will continue to regulate the accreditation of school laboratories, inspection of medical laboratories facilities, fight against quackery and promote quality assurance in health services.
“A new dawn is here and an event like this will give room for the immediate training and contribution to quality services of our national health,” Erahabor said.
Eariler, the National President of AMLSN, Mr Bassey Enya, commended the theme of the conference titled “Global Health Security”, saying it will tackle challenges in the sector.
He said that the Medical Laboratory Agenda for the Sub-Saharan Africa was carefully chosen to reflect the current dangers posed by severe pathogens.
Enya said that pathogens have epidemic potential and role the medical laboratory could play in early detection and response.
He also said that the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is an effort by nations, international organisations and civil societies to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats.
He also said that the theme is to promote global health security as an international priority and to spur progress toward full implementation of international health regulation 2005.
“To prevent another devastating event like Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, we need a resilient and inclusive health system That extend to rural areas.
“A sensitive early warning system coupled with rapid response capacity, informed and engaged communities that trust their government and health services it provides,” Enya said.
He identified poor implementation of the national laboratory policy, inadequate training of medical laboratory personnel, weak medical laboratory infrastructure and limited quality assurance, to be among other challenges facin facing the sector.
He also noted that laboratories are usually given low priority and recognition in most national health delivery systems.
Mr Joseph David, the Chairman AMLSN, Abuja branch, said the theme was to plan to establish a network to interconnect laboratories.
“I am glad to have the privilege 15 years after to host an international conference of this magnitude.”
He commended partners for making this conference a huge success, most especially the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, the US Centre for Disease Control, the University of Maryland, the Institute of Human Virology Of Nigeria.
NHM/RAB/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola