From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
No fewer than 120 medical laboratory scientists have completed their training programmes at the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science and would be inducted as fellows at the forthcoming 2021 regional conference of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science scheduled to hold in Abuja.
Registrar of the College, Dr. Godswill Okara, who disclosed the information to journalists in Abuja, at the weekend, said the induction of the fellows would herald commencement of various fellowship training in the region.
Dr. Okara explained that the conference will provide opportunity for stakeholders in the medical laboratory services to appreciate themselves, exchange knowledge, ideas and expertise, and also examine, critically, issues militating against the services and proffer superior solutions to the identified problems, particularly manpower related issues.
He said: “36 countries in the African Region have a health human resources crisis and 10 of these face critical shortages. This acute shortage of skilled health workers means that most countries are unable to avail appropriately skilled health workers in the right quantity where they are needed.
“Human capacity development is critical in the provision of an effective and efficient heath care service. The achievement of the 2019-2023 WHO ‘Triple Billion Target’ can only be possible if the health workforce operates in collaboration and cooperation among themselves, as it obtains in other parts of the developed world.”
He, thus, explained that the 2021 scientific conference of the College with the theme: “Improving Global Health by Strengthening Medical Laboratory Capacity in Africa” will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari and would be chaired by the Director General of West African Health Organisation (WAHO), Prof. Stanley Okolo.
He said the keynote lecture will be delivered by a foremost physician/infectious diseases specialist, Prof. Idris Mohammed.
He said that other distinguished subject experts from West Africa and the USA CDC would make presentations on subthemes of the Conference.
The Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Tosan Erhabour, commended the move and promised the support of MLSCN to the objective of the conference.
He explained that MLSCN has strengthened its systems to monitor the activities of the medical laboratory scientists in Nigeria who operate substandard laboratories, which often produce results that are questionable.
