Health
MR Oni Nelson, a medical laboratory scientist, has decried the proliferation of unaccredited medical laboratories, especially in the rural areas, and called for stringent measures to check the trend.
Nelson, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday in Jos, said that the prevalence of such substandard laboratories was posing a “great risk to the health sector”.
“A major concern in effective healthcare delivery is the prevalence of unaccredited medical laboratories. They litter practically every corner, especially in the rural areas, and pose a serious threat to health care delivery,” he lamented.
He regretted that lots of Nigerians patronise such laboratories whose personnel have no formal training on health matters.
Nelson, President of G50, a Non-Governmental Organisation formed by a group of medical laboratory scientists, described the situation as “very worrisome”.
“The quack medical laboratories have caused a lot of hardship and pains to patients because their diagnosis are always inaccurate.
“The medical consequences of such inaccurate diagnoses have been disastrous for patients who usually commence treatment for an ailment they do not have,” he said.
He said that only licensed medical laboratory scientists were allowed to open such facilities, and advised members of the public to insist on sighting the license of medical scientists before patronising them.
The NGO president said that the outfit was created to address the health needs of the less privileged and minimise the risk of falling prey to quacks.
Nelson said that the NGO had offered free medical laboratory tests for less privileged persons, especially victims of attacks taking refuge at various Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Plateau. (NAN)
– Sept. 25, 2018 @ 16:45 GMT |
Tags: Scientist decries proliferation of unaccredited medical laboratories
