013-05-23 23:13:08
The House of Representatives on
Thursday called for the closure of
medical laboratories engaging in
fraudulent practices in the country.
It said such practices included false
investigations leading to wrong
diagnostic results and poor
equipment of centres designated as
medical laboratories.
In a resolution following a motion
sponsored by Mr. Patrick Ikhariale
(PDP, Edo State), the House observed
that many "quacks" owned and
operated laboratories that were
engaging in issuing false medical
investigation reports.
Ikhariale noted that the consequence
of false diagnosis was that doctors
relied on such reports to prescribe
drugs for unsuspecting patients that
could lead to death or permanent
damage.
The resolution specifically directed the
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyewuchi
Chukwu, to re-certify all medical
laboratories in the country "with a
view to closing down those that do
not meet the established standards
for practice."
A member from Nasarawa State, Mr.
Joseph Kigbu, told the House that the
situation had been made worse by
the fact that many Nigerians sought
the services of medical laboratories
without the recommendation of
medical doctors.

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it should be done fast. a commission should be established to regulate medical or clinical laboratories in Nigeria in line with international best practice. the board of the commission should made up of representative of laboratory professionals including technician,technologist, scientist and pathologists;medical doctors,nurses , lawyers and biomedical engineers.

There is already in place the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria established by Act 11 2003.Most independent private labs are owned and manned by qualified and certified medical lab scientists.
Where the most quackery is committed is in so called labs of many private clinics/hospitals.Up to 95% of them engage quacks to maximize profits at the expense of good practice and to the detriment of the welfare of patients.

Its not by passing bills and establishing acts alone. Implementation is the key. There are thousands of medical laboratories accross the country of which a good number are fake. Do they have the man-power and facilities to flush the fakes ones out? Only time will tell