Manufacturers of food and drugs have been warned to desist from subverting analytical laboratory practice and regulation in the country.
Aliyu Angara, registrar of Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN)who described Testing Laboratory Analysts as key in Nigeria’s quest towards economic self-sufficiency, insists that the regulating body will not compromise its statutory responsibility of ensuring the enforcement of analytical laboratory standards in the country.
Speaking during a media briefing ahead of the 28th Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) workshop scheduled to hold from November 19-20 at Ostra Hall and Hotels, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos; Angara warned stakeholders who indulge in unwholesome practices to stop as IPAN was poised to evolve solutions towards overcoming the challenges affecting the analytical laboratory practices in Nigeria.
“Testing Laboratory Analysts in the country are key in Nigeria’s quest towards economic self-sufficiency. They form the critical mass of the required experts that ascertain products quality, safety and efficacy,” he said.
According to him, the game changer in the modern day international trade is product quality and safety and not necessarily the quantum of production.
“The challenges facing analysts need to be identified and addressed squarely once and for all, in order to assist the nation’s quest towards economic eldorado and self a sufficiency,” Angara said.
Therefore, for those who see Nigeria as fertile ground for unwholesome practices, I am sorry we cannot compromise standards. It cannot continue. And that is part of what we want to canvass during the forthcoming workshop and conference in Lagos.
“I wish to call on all stakeholders to accord recognition and adequately remunerate Testing Laboratory Analysts in the country,” he said.
He said that the two-day workshop with the theme “Contemporary Analytical Laboratory Practice: Overcoming Sectorial Challenges, will X-ray and bring up-to-date the standards and regulatory environment in analytical laboratory practice in Nigeria with reference to international best practices. And to bring to the fore the sectoral challenges in the practice of the profession and proffer implementable solutions towards overcoming the challenges as well as to identify emerging sectoral opportunities in the practice of the profession and evolve strategies towards maximising the opportunities.
Femi Oyediran, First Vice Chairman, , who also doubles as President, Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria (SOTLAN) also emphasised on the need for synergy between Analytical Laboratories and Medical Laboratories towards achieving a healthy nation
“Analytical Laboratories and Medical Laboratories are in the same business of laboratories. It’s only the metrics is what we analyse that is different. The medical laboratories deal more with the humans, while analytical laboratories deal more with the preventive medicine.
“So we need to work together and won’t see ourselves as enemies because, even the standard applicable to analytical laboratory and the one applicable to the medical laboratories are the same. So we’re under the same body and should be working together,” he said.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
