Speaking on “Flagrant disregard of government rules, circulars and laws in the health sector” in Abuja yesterday, the National President of AMLSN, Dr Godswill Okara identified hospitals where violation of rules is prevalent.
“An example is the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia where the Medical Director has written to unlicensed personnel to perform critical laboratory services upon which patients’ diagnosis, treatment and management depend. This exposes the health and lives of the unsuspecting public to jeopardy.
“The Federal Medical Centre, Asaba and Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua are also toeing this line of lawlessness and executive rascality.” Okara who maintained that medical laboratory science provides over 70 percent of the empirical data that constitute the evidence that drives medical practice lamented that “the onslaught on medical laboratory service structure issued by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) as communicated to all Chief Executives of parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Health by the…Minister of Health, (Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu) has become more vicious.
“The Medical Directors, Chief Medical Directors and most boards of management of tertiary hospitals have formed the vanguard of conspiracy to frustrate medical laboratory science practice and medical laboratory scientists.”
He said AMLSN has resolved to resist all forms of illegalities aimed at flouting government rules and regulations from whatever quarters.
He stated, “Medical laboratory scientists shall from now onwards refuse to obey instructions and directives that are at variance with government rules and statutory regulations.The body of medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria has therefore resolved to embark on a three-day work-to-rule protest in all hospitals across the country.”
The association commended President Goodluck Jonathan for not assenting to the National Health Bill which was said to be skewed to erode the regulatory laws and professional jurisdictions of many healthcare professionals.
AMLSN which was founded in Lagos in 1964 is an affiliate of the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS) among other associations.
