PREAMBLE: The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) Plateau State branch held her 4th Scientific Conference between the 16th and 22nd June, 2016 at the Hill Station Hotel Conference hall Jos with the theme “New Frontiers in Quality Management System” was in partnership with Centres for Disease Control, Nigeria. The conference had Mac Paul Okoye of CDC as the Keynote address speaker.

 

The theme and sub themes focused squarely on Quality Management Systems in the laboratory. It drew participants from Sokoto, Taraba, Bauch, Gombe, Kaduna, FCT and Plateau State.

 

RESOLUTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Conference congratulates the government of Plateau State for her efforts in rescuing the health sector in Plateau State as contained in their campaign promises.

 

Conference regretted the current state of government-labour relations in Nigeria with a section of the Nigerian Labour Congress declaring a nationwide strike due to issues around fuel subsidy and called on the federal government to ensure the issue is immediately resolved in the interest of the masses of Nigeria.

 

Conference called on the federal government and management of Jos University Teaching Hospitals to as a matter of urgency to look into the JOHESU strike in JUTH with the aim of resolving it in the interest of patients seeking quality health services.

 

Conference agreed that Quality Management System is an indispensable and integral approach to strengthening and standardizing medical laboratory services in Plateau State and Nigeria as a whole and resolved to pursue it at all levels for the benefit of the health care system.

 

Conference noted with dismay that all government-owned medical laboratories in Plateau State have not been accredited in line with global best practices towards rating medical laboratories into graded stars and called on the State government and other stake holders to redouble efforts to key all public health laboratories in the accreditation program that is ongoing.

 

Conference called on medical laboratory scientists to forthwith entrench quality management system in their laboratories with the institutionalization of laboratory policies, standards and procedures in tandem with the global best practices.

 

Conference frowned at the way and manner institutions go about acquiring equipment and recruitment of medical laboratory staff without recourse to essential analysis of lab needs, noting that the practice wastes scarce resources in addition to compromising quality in laboratory services.

 

Conference expressed dissatisfaction with the absence of directorate of medical laboratory services in the state ministry of health which has led to exclusion of informed inputs from laboratory based personnel in policy making at top management level, noting that this is not only an aberration and misapplication of the law empowering medical laboratory profession in Nigeria. It is as well a great disservice to the people and our nation.

 

Conference called on medical laboratory scientists to insist on Quality Management System policy in equipment purchasing, certification, installation, maintenance, usage and decommissioning as a significant way of strengthening laboratory practices in Nigeria.

 

Conference requested medical laboratory scientists to observe optimum safety precautions in the laboratory to avoid contamination of environment, themselves and other laboratory users as a way of entrenching safety in the laboratory.

 

Conference also called on all Medical Laboratory Service points to pursue vigorously the issue of accreditation by relevant bodies so as to continuously give credence to our services towards meeting the needs of our customers (patients, clinicians, policy makers and the general public).

 

Conference frowned at an emerging trend in Plateau State where certain people without any training from approved medical laboratory institutions parade themselves with medical devices in the marketplace, religious centres and schools in the pretext of medical diagnosis and extorting the unsuspecting public of large chunk of monies without recourse to the long term effect of laser radiations they accumulate in their systems.

 

Conference decried absence of functional laboratories and laboratory professionals at Primary Health Care level of health care delivery in Plateau state and called on government to rise to the challenge of upgrading human and material resources to strengthen the medical laboratories.

 

Conference expressed utter dismay that Medical Laboratory Scientists are not represented in management meetings of most health institutions by deliberately refusing to appoint heads of medical laboratories as contained into the MLSCN act 11 of 2003.

 

Conference called on the Plateau State government to increase the quota of medical laboratory interns being trained in state hospital particularly the Plateau state specialist hospital and Hospitals management board. Institutions like National Veterinary Research Institute and other institutions that stalled on the training of medical lab interns are also called upon as a matter of urgency to ensure the restoration of such; in view of the facilities they parade to strengthen the capacity.

 

Conference regretted the state of vaccines and vaccinations where standard quality management system is compromised as vaccines are not tested for safety and potency before administration as well as failure in carrying out post vaccination laboratory investigation towards ascertaining success or failure of such vaccinations in vaccinated population.

 

In similar vein, Conference noted with great dismay the abuse of Point of Care Testing (POCT) among other medical and non-medical professionals and called on MLSCN to ensure implementation of enabling law to avoid endangering the innocent populace.

 

Conference commended the leadership of AMLSN Plateau State under the able leadership of Dr.James Damen for consistency in organization the annual scientific conferences throughout their four year tenure and called on those aspiring to take over from them to offer nothing less than what is currently obtained.

 

Signed:

Dr James Damen

Plateau State Branch Chairman

Mrs Folusho Akinkumi

Plateau State Branch Secretary