Federal teaching hospitals, medical centres and specialist hospitals in the country have been enjoined to key into the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) laboratory accreditation programme.
The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during the unveiling of the MLSCN Accreditation Service as an associate member of International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC) and the presentation of a certificate of ISO 15189:2012 Accreditation to National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, Saye -Zaria, Kaduna State.
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ILAC is the international organization for accreditation bodies accrediting calibration laboratories, testing laboratories, medical testing laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers and providers of reference materials.
Mamora said accreditation of medical laboratories is the hallmark of quality service across the world and attests to the effort of the facility to deliver accurate and reliable test results to meet the need of service users.
He said the lessons from the COVID pandemic should gear stakeholders to strengthen the country’s health system to handle future epidemics and health emergencies.
He said MLSCN had positioned the country on the global stage through its regulatory activities and selection as an associate member of ILAC.
Registrar of MLSCN, Tosan Erhabor, said in line with meeting international best practices, Nigeria had adopted the ISO 15189:2012 as a national industrial standard for accreditation of public and private medical laboratories in Nigeria.