REGULATE LABORATORY PRACTICE (PAGE 19, NOV 12, 2010)

Executive members of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Association of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS) have appealed to the government to expedite action on a Legislative Instrument (LI) to regulate laboratory practice in the country.
They explained that while medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses in the country continued to maintain high professional standards in their practices and enjoyed good public image, the same could not be said of those who undertook laboratory testing, thus lowering their self-esteem among the public.
Making the appeal during a courtesy call on the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace as part of the Awukudae celebration, the GABMLS noted, “ in spite of the critical importance of laboratory services to the provision of quality health care, there is no law and regulatory body to regulate the practice of laboratory services in the country”
“Fake laboratories all over the place should be of great concern, not only to the leaders of our association, but to all Ghanaians, because the situation has very serious consequences on healthcare delivery in Ghana,” they said.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the GABMLS, Mr Thomas Gyampomah, who made the appeal on behalf of his executive, pointed out that given the concern of Otumfuo Osei Tutu to support better health care delivery for Ghanaians, and his “enviable stature in the affairs of the country, we have absolute confidence and trust that once you make an input, the government would expedite action to pass a Legislative Instrument to enact a law that would regulate the practice of laboratory testing in the country”.
Mr Gyampomah said “the association is very much committed to making a national effort to promote the use of best practices in laboratory medicine, but the absence of regulatory body is a huge limitation, which must be rectified immediately to save Ghanaians from quack practitioners and substandard laboratory services”.
He said the association also considered the enactment of a legislative instrument and subsequent establishment of a regulatory body as its number one priority, noting that ,“ as a professional group, we have used all avenues available to us to call on the government to pass a legislative instrument to regulate our practices, but to no avail”.
The courtesy call was to enable the executive members to introduce themselves to the Asantehene and to commend him for his support for quality health care delivery.
Among the executive members who were at the Manhyia Palace were the Vice-Chairman, Mr Abass Alhassan; Mr Awuah Nyantakyi, Secretary; Mr Michael Owusu, Organiser; and Mr David Ofosu Ntiamoah, Financial Secretary.
Expressing concern about the proliferation of laboratory testing in the country, Mr Gyampomah said evidence was clear in newspaper publications when the HIV status of a patient tested at two different laboratories at Bantama “gave different results“.
“A few weeks later in Accra, the Hepatitis B status of another patient in two different laboratories was also reported differently,” he added.
Mr Gyampomah said the number of people who had either died, been maimed, or traumatised through the activities of fake practitioners could not be quantified,” stressing ,“ these occurrences are enough signals to cause the government to hasten to come up with the appropriate legislation that will regulate laboratory services to enhance quality health care delivery”.