Mahama Asei Seini (L) with Nana Osei-Hyiaman and GAMLS President
PRESIDENT OF the Ghana Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), Dr. Abu Abudu Rahamani, has appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency establish a fund for public health emergency preparedness with the current COVID-19 Trust Fund and the COVID-19 Levy being the basis for the fund.
The GAMLS President also implored the government to de-bundle laboratory services in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and resolve the impasse between Physicians/Clinicians and Medical Laboratory Scientists, defining a clear collaborative organisational structure for effective healthcare and teamwork.
Dr. Rahamani made this known while addressing members of the GAMLS during their 2022 Annual National Congress (ANC) in Kumasi last Thursday under the theme: “Capacity Enhancement of Medical Laboratory Practice in Ghana: Cornerstone of Future Pandemic Response.”
The ANC is the highest profile event on the GAMLS’ calendar, which gives medical laboratory practitioners and the academia the opportunity to deliberate on the theme and keep abreast of new developments in the profession.
Dr. Rahamani urged the government to recruit qualified and licensed professionals and avoid using quacks with task-shifting approaches, adding, “the Health Agencies and various Regulators, especially the Health Facility and Regulatory Agencies (HEFRA) must ensure that only qualified professionals perform the test in facilities they accredit, even in the quest of increasing access to health care.”
The GAMLS President noted that the COVID-19 pandemic together with the emerging threat of other viral infectious diseases demanded a careful look at the healthcare system, particularly in the diagnostic arm of health.
Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Minister of Health, in a speech read on his behalf by Mahama Asei Seini, Deputy Minister of Health, commended the Medical Laboratory Scientists for their sterling performance during the outbreak of Marburg disease and Monkeypox disease in the past years.
Touching on the theme, he noted that the current era of a double-burden of non-communicable and infectious diseases required that professional practice of medical laboratory science in the world, and Ghana, in particular, is above reproach, is of the highest quality, and can stand the test of time.
He called for an establishment of independent regulatory bodies, policies, and systems that would be well resourced to deal with issues of quackery in the health system.
“If the professional regulatory bodies such as the Allied Health Professions Council (AHPC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Medical and Dental Council, Pharmacy Council and Psychology Council are working well, we should not expect quackery in our health system but see all professionals bearing licences to practice their various professions,” he reiterated.
Simon Osei-Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister, described the theme for the congress as apt and timely, noting that the recent outbreak of Monkeypox and Marburg diseases were clear indications for strengthening the capacities of the medical laboratory professionals of the country.
Nana Osei-Hyiaman, Otumfuo’s Mawerehene, who represented the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as the chairman of the occasion, commended GAMLS for their contributions in the health care delivery in the country.
FROM David Afum & Stella Botwe, Kumasi