LAGOS – Medical laboratory scientists (MLS), also
known as clinical laboratory scientists, play a crucial role in the diagnosis,
treatment and management of patients.
They perform complex tests on patient samples using
sophisticated equipment like microscopes. The data they find plays an
important role in identifying and treating cancer, heart disease, diabetes,
and other medical conditions.
Other medical practitioners depend on medical laboratory
scientists for accurate diagnosis to effectively manage any health condition.
With the emergence of various communicable and Non
Communicable Diseases (NCDs) worldwide, including Lassa fever, cancers, Ebola,
Covid-19 and many others, especially in the West African region, the need for
sophisticated and well trained medical laboratory scientists at the highest
level is now a necessity.
This is to enable them have the needed knowledge and
competence to confront and provide the right diagnostic outputs for all forms
of emerging diseases in the region.
It is also worth noting that without the right
quality and quantity of medical laboratory science practitioners, the much
talked about the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will be a mirage in
the West African region.
That is why the recent induction of the 216
Foundation Fellows of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical
Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS), during their recently concluded congress in
Lagos, Nigeria, is seen as a step in the right direction by many experts in
the health sector.
The newly inducted fellows were drawn from Nigeria,
Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo, The Gambia and Cameroon.
The Foundation Fellows spread across the different
specialities and sub-disciplines of the medical laboratory science profession are
grouped in faculties.
It would be recalled that on June 10, 2010, in
Nairobi, Kenya, the delegates from West Africa at the 29th World Congress of
the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS) met and
agreed to form a platform for training and developing the much-needed
specialist laboratory manpower for enhanced and effective health healthcare
service and diagnostic capacity in the sub-region.
The name, West African Postgraduate College of
Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS), was adopted by the delegates in
attendance at the meeting. The proposal to establish the College was
enthusiastically received by all in attendance at the meeting, and it was
tagged: The Nairobi Initiative. Delegates from almost all the countries of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were in attendance.
The College which will have its headquarters in
Nigeria is established to foster and promote collaboration, cooperation and
synergy with other stakeholders in the healthcare sector for effective and
efficient health service delivery and health research outcome in the region for
the benefit of its residents and the global community.
The College, according findings, is committed to the
integrative pursuit and promotion of excellence in the postgraduate training of
medical laboratory specialists to enhance the diagnostic capacity of
efficient health service delivery, quality research, disease surveillance and
control in the West African region.
Restating the relevance of well-trained medical
laboratory scientists for the development of the West African region, Nigeria’s
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, declaring the congress open, said, “The
importance of accurate and reliable laboratory diagnosis in the prevention and
control of diseases cannot be over-emphasised.
“Medical laboratory services are vital components
of a quality health care system and continue to play a vital role in disease
prevention, detection, surveillance and patient management.
“It provides information and services that
contribute to maximising effective delivery of care in today’s complex
healthcare system by assuring that the correct test is performed on the right
person, at the right time, producing accurate test results that enable care
providers to make the right diagnostic and therapeutic decisions for better
outcomes for patients.”
