By EFEMENA EDHERIGHO
One year ago, the mantle of leadership at the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria was abruptly thrust upon the shoulders of Mr Tosan Erhabor, a deacon of the Vineyard of God Church and a thoroughbred medical laboratory professional. Until that time, the man many described as a bridge builder, had risen through the ranks of the public service, to become the Director of EQA/PT. But events unfolded rather rapidly at the Council and culminated in the gruesome murder of Mrs O.F. Omotuyi, the late Acting Registrar of the Council.
Consequently, the onerous task of steering the ship of the regulatory body to sustainable safety and growth fell on the Edo State-born haematologist. It was not how he or anyone else could have planned to step into a bigger office, as those were dark, heady and indeed gloomy days. Indeed, there was apprehension, distrust and turmoil at the council. It was not such a wonderful time to be an employee of the council let alone being a leader no matter how popular.
However, someone had to do the job, as stakeholders in this and other professions in the country are hardly very tolerant of failure in spite of the surrounding circumstances. Besides this, the Federal Ministry of Health had suspended one the agency’s statutory mandates – the inspection of medical laboratories. Thus one could have been excused for thinking that, for the new helmsman, it was going to be a long walk to success. In order to have a modicum of success, though, it was imperative to arrest the surging, turbulent wave and restore the council to the part of sustainable peace. Yet it was against this background that Sir Erhabor, the Walikin Tsapta of Tsafe Emirate Council in Zamfara State recently marked the first anniversary of his appointment as Acting Registrar/CEO of MLSCN.
At the thanksgiving service, organized by Management and Staff of the Council, to thank God for peace and tranquility that has pervaded the Council since the inception of the regime, the Ag. Registrar, who at inception had assured staff that “manpower will be the thrust of this administration”, appreciated God, management, staff and stakeholders of the Council for their tremendous support in the past year, adding: “without you I couldn’t have done it alone; it is our success.”
Erhabor then reeled out series of achievements drawn from his 15-point agenda implementation strategy hinged on a tripod of registration, regulation and accreditation, which his administration had articulated right at the outset. Elders and stakeholders of the profession had also endorsed the policy thrust.
Pursuit of collective peace and harmony through reconciliation of all stakeholders: He said that his administration has been troubleshooting through reconciliation of all stakeholders and groups while being mindful of the need to enforce discipline and orderliness in the profession. “We have organized transparent stakeholders’ meetings aimed at reconciling aggrieved parties including mediating in the differences between factions of the Association of Medical Laboratory Technicians and Assistants of Nigeria (AMELTAN). “Now we can attest to the fact that there is peace in MLSCN and in the profession,” he said.
Service Delivery: According to him, the Council now provides quality, timely and cost effective services to clients and members. This is partly due to the creation of the platform for issuance of E-license, which was officially flagged off on 1st August, 2016 and has been sustained. “As at today,” he said, “members now sit in the comfort of their homes and offices, pay, process and print their e- licences making it the preferred platform for renewal of license. Another way this administration has ensured timely response to mails, enquiries and requests is by creating a real time customer feedback mechanism for resolving online license issues apart from instituting a 24-hour IHRis helpline.
Internship Problems: Here, he noted that the Council has attempted to ameliorate the plight of intending interns by encouraging more medical laboratories to get accredited for the training of intern MLS while advocating to those already accredited to increase their quota for MLS internship placement. He added that no fewer than four extra facilities had been accredited for the training programme.
Accreditation of Medical Laboratories: This is one of the core functions of the Council. Recently, three deserving medical laboratories were granted National Accreditation by MLSCN, and more accreditation visits are ongoing for a number of medical laboratory facilities with reports awaiting Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) for ratification. If approved we are hopeful that at least five medical laboratories will be accredited in the next 18 months. Technical assessors’ training anchored by South African National Accreditation Services (SANAS) has been provided to boost the capacity of MLSCN staff as Laboratory Assessors.
Collaborations: The Council has continued to pursue mutually beneficial collaborations and partnerships with local and international organizations. Currently MLSCN is in discussion with some local and international organizations in respect of such collaborations. In this vein, Erhabor noted that MLSCN has established or re-established collaboration with CDC, ASLM, IHVN, CIHP, FHI360-Global Fund, One World Accuracy, etc. “Under our leadership, the Council has paid a working visit to the Management of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA), where matters of mutual benefits were discussed. In our quest to improve medical laboratory science training programme, the Council has built a good working relationship with the National Universities Commission (NUC) and all matters relating to Medical Laboratory Science Education in Nigerian Universities are being addressed including upgrading departments of medical laboratory science in the universities to full-fledged faculties of medical laboratory science and also encourage them to provide direct entry admissions for medical laboratory technicians in the universities. Also, foreign graduates programme and fellowship by dissertation has been reviewed and modified to become more friendly and attractive as re-training of foreign graduates is now provided at three approved centres.
Medical Laboratory Science Education: As the Acting Registrar noted, the Council recently organized her First Education Summit, which attracted a cross-section of medical laboratory scientists as well as other stakeholders. Various issues regarding the training of modern, highly skilled and competent medical laboratory scientists were fully explored. A copy of the communiqué from that summit has been approved for implementation by the Federal Ministry of Health.
Professional Discipline: According to him, while the restoration and maintenance of nobility and integrity in the Medical Laboratory Science profession has been pursued, it is also gratifying to note that the Federal Ministry of Justice has approved the application and implementation of MLSCN Disciplinary Committee Rules. In this regard, the current administration has paid tribute to the founding fathers, relevant stakeholders, and groups related to the practice of Medical Laboratory Science like AMLSN and others for their continual support. “We have always invited and rubbed minds with the elders, our parent association AMLSN and other stakeholders of the profession on issues of professional interest,” he said.
Strengthening Medical Laboratories: Assuring that the Council was poised to further strengthen medical laboratories to deliver quality services that benchmark global best practices through nationwide periodic inspection and regular follow-up monitoring to ensure compliance, he added: “With utmost joy I announce that the Federal Ministry of Health has endorsed and approved the protocol for medical laboratory inspection. This approval will enable the Council to commence its national medical laboratory inspections previously suspended by the Ministry. Also in order to reposition all medical laboratories in Nigeria for proper capacity development and regulation, this administration has introduced the mapping of all medical laboratories in Nigeria. The modalities are now being worked out by the ICT unit.
EQA: Speaking on this subject matter, which is very dear to his heart considering that he was the Director of EQA until a year ago, the Acting Registrar said, “We are all aware of Council’s determination to instil confidence in results from our laboratories. This we have done by strengthening the EQA programme and commencing the production of in-country EQA panels for haematology and chemistry with international recognition and also seeking accreditation for our EQA laboratory. Implementation of the new EQA scheme, which is in collaboration with BIORAD USA has commenced since August, 2016. EQA Technical Arbitration Committee has been put in place and discussions are in top gear to collaborate with One World Accuracy for cheaper PT panels.”
IVD LAB: In order to strengthen the In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Laboratory to work to its full installed capacity and achieve its mandate, the Acting Registrar noted that a mentor had been appointed to work with Council staff in the area and help reposition the facility as work is in progress to get International accreditation for it in line with ISO 17025 standard.
Zonal Offices and Access to Service: He said his administration has further strengthened the zonal offices to be more functional and more accessible and less cumbersome to the Council’s clients. In this regard, plans are ongoing to create more state offices in Oyo, Kogi and Jigawa states.
Bulletin: He noted that the MLSCN news bulletin- “The Medical Laboratory Scientist” and the website, the main communications tools of the Council, have both been restructured to make them more user-friendly. The editorial board of the publication has been reconstituted. Efforts are being made to make it available as at when due.
Research Capacity: “Also there has been effort to develop the research capabilities of Council to meet the challenges faced by most regulatory agencies of the 21st century, including making evidence-based decisions and policy implementation,” he noted, adding that “a Research and Publication Committee has been put in place for this purpose. It is hoped that this would help strengthen our research capacity and hasten the realization of our vision to become a world acclaimed regulatory agency.”
Staff Welfare: Erhabor said he was pleased that the Management had lived up to the promise it made at inception that manpower and staff motivation would be the thrust of his administration. According to him, staff promotion and other entitlements are granted with added privileges as has never been the case before. “This has paid off through staff loyalty and quality service delivery which shows that “a motivated staff is indeed a happy staff,” he added.
He said these and other functions of the Council as mandated by Act 11 have been going on smoothly since the inception of the administration and promised that “This Management will do more.” He, therefore, called for more cooperation from the staff as well as other stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health, leadership and members of AMLSN and MHWUN, elders of the profession as well as members of the public, “as we strive to take MLSCN to the next level, God being on our side.”