MLSCN gears up to remove quacks, improve health sector

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria is mounting serous efforts to remove quacks and all forms of quackery practice in the profession. And health stakeholders say its future in Nigeria is brightening daily as it is the only statutory regulator for the practice of medical laboratory science in the country.

This is even as healthcare givers are calling for synergy among their various groups to move the sector forward for the benefit of patients and the country in general.

“Definitely there are too many quacks in the profession and we have this Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN). The council has been doing a lot to stop quackery and most of the quacks are situated in the hospitals.

“You will see a hospital clinic and laboratory, you go in and you will be surprised that the person who is there may be a school certificate holder.” Vitalis Ikay Njoku, (PHD) a medical laboratory scientist\ medical parasitologist, Fidel Medical Laboratory, Owerri told BusinessDay in an exclusive interview.

Njoku, a former executive chairman,  Aboh Mbaise Local Government council during the time of ex-governor Achike Udenwa administration, Imo State however said that government has a lot of role to play in terms of funding and equipping public health institutions to move the nation’s health sector to the next level.

“Health professionals should be well remunerated, they are taking lot of risks, if you are talking of Ebola disease they are very much exposed, if you are talking of HIV/AIDS they are very much exposed in addition to every other exposure that any other servant has”.

He described the health sector as being “very, very far below average”, adding that in addition to funding, health professionals must come together and stop the bickering between the various groups of healthcare givers to enable the sector move forward.

“In the health sector, while nurses are talking through their umbrella body, doctors are saying theirs, the medical lab scientists are saying theirs, they should come together”, Njoku strongly believes.

He asserted that the profession has reached a stage where nobody should claim to be at the head or at the tail, what “we require now is collaboration because there is no way we can do without collaborating with each other”.

He further called for forums where doctors, medical lab scientists, pharmacists and nurses will come together to review cases in the health sector.

The lab Scientist sees the medical laboratory science professional as one whose future holds fortune for the stakeholders and the nation as a whole and commended the effort of the erudite professor who is heading the MLSCN, Emeribe, to move the council forward.

“The future of the profession is bright, a lot of researches are going on, as I am talking to you some medical lab scientists are doing research on Lassa fever even the zika virus. The MLSCN has a very standard laboratory in Lagos where researches are going on, there are too many professors and doctors in the profession, gone are the days when the profession in below par” Njoku said.

SABY ELEMBA