COVID-19: Time to implement National Health Laboratory Policy [Article]

It’s barely a week since this year’s International Biomedical Laboratory Science (IBLS) day was commemorated. Normally at this time of the year, medical laboratory professionals across the globe would mark IBLS day with series of well-planned events amidst a deluge of chatter and laughter.

15th April marks the annual celebration of IBLS day. This IBLS Day recognises and celebrates the profession and the vital responsibility of medical laboratory personnel in preventative and curative healthcare systems.

Instead, we have had to marshal all our arsenals to help combat the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 bringing which has brought the whole world to a halt. As we labour around the clock trying to keep our fellow Ghanaians safe by skillfully detecting this deadly virus causing the worse pandemic of our time, I am unable to keep mute but to express my deepest gratitude to the rank and file of the profession of medical laboratory science for the vital and indispensable role we play in the healthcare continuum.

This day is intended to raise awareness of our role in health care. This is not the time for fear, but a time of courage and strength. Our healthcare system is built on the foundation of medical laboratory testing andthis crisis has clearly revealed the cracks in that foundation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has vindicated our stance on the implementation of the National Health Laboratory Policy (NHLP). The single highest volume medical activity influencing approximately 70% of physician-patient interaction is rooted in the volumes of medical laboratory tests performed all year round. It is our clarion call that Government will do what it has to do to ensure that this key policy sees the light of day.

Medical laboratory science has emerged as a unique profession with well-defined and prescribed body of knowledge needed to practice same. It is therefore unacceptable at this stage for any other group of professionals within the healthcare system to insist that medical laboratory science is subservient to the practice of medicine; No! not once not ever. The healthcare space is a highly chauvinistic environment and professions prefer to have their destiny in their own hands and this exactly what we as Medical Laboratory Scientists insist on.

President Akufo-Addo’s decision to lift the lockdown has been partly been as a result of the data generated from the laboratory and this data would inform future would inform future decisions. We will continue to work to protect the health and well-being of all within our borders. We stand ready to help build a more robust and effective response to COVID-19. The role of the laboratory in the COVID-19 fight is irreplaceable. Indeed medical laboratories are vital.

What is the future? The future is taking a deliberate look at the weak links in the health care system and fixing these links. The future is the implementation of the National Health Laboratory Policy and a conscious effort to develop a competent and a well-motivated workforce to man our medical laboratories taking cognizance of current trends in professional development and the ever changing technology. The future lies in empowering medical laboratory professionals and further recognising their important roles in modern healthcare.

It is our hope that our dear country Ghana and Africa will project into this future and embrace it with alacrity. It is a truism that countries that have functional medical laboratory structures have better outcomes of tackling both communicable and non-communicable diseases. It is also true that countries with an effective regulatory regime and a formal policy on medical laboratory science continue to have robust medical laboratory systems. Examples of these countries are South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Namibia which are all in Africa.

The time is now to move beyond supremacism and embrace systems where every team player is well recognized and given the chance to develop, flourish and contribute to the ultimate care of patients. That is the way to go.

We thank all medical laboratory professionals for your commitment to duty. Your resilience and dedication to the service to mankind in these difficult times is commendable.

Happy IBLS Day

MLS. Franklin NiiAmarteyAmarh

Greater Accra Regional Chairman of Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS)

 

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