INAUGURAL PRESS RELEASE BY DR. CASMIR IFEANYI, THE 15TH NATIONAL PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENTISTS OF NIGERIA (AMLSN), THIS THURSDAY 30TH, NOVEMBER. 2023.
AMLSN National Elections were held on Saturday 16th, November 2023 and produced a new set of officers to run the affairs of the Association for the next 3 years. Dr. Casmir Ifeanyi emerged as the new AMLSN National President along with 12 other members of 15th AMLSN National Executive Officers.
Mindful that the major thrust of the new regime is the protection of patients, and the healthcare seeking Nigerians in general, the new AMLSN leadership reiterates as follows:
That, the Association is ready to work cordially and supportively with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government, and his Co-ordinating Minister of Health, in order to strengthen the health sector, in line with the principles of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
That, the Association will remain conscientious and unwavering; ensuring that patients seeking medical laboratory services are provided the services in harmony with the approved international standards (ISO 15189 2022 or the JCI Accreditation Standards for Medical Laboratories).
Worried that the healthcare system in Nigeria is already in a dire state, we urge the Federal Government to implement deep reforms in the health sector, with special focus also on the Primary Healthcare Services system.
Also worried that health seeking Nigerians suffer immense negative health consequences from medical laboratory services provided by quacks and charlatans wrongly employed particularly in public health institutions, the new Exco commits to enforce optimum sanitization in the medical laboratory services system; purging it of all forms of malpractices, including employing aggressive campaigns against quackery.
We are particularly alarmed by the clandestine move to formally enthrone quackery in the Primary Healthcare centres across Nigeria. Recently, we uncovered a dastard ploy to craft a scheme of service for Community Health Officers (CHO) assigning them with the prescribed duties of Medical Laboratory Scientist. The purported proposed SOS for CHOs is a recipe for disaster. The proposed SOS for CHOs will warrant the maiming and killing of healthcare seeking Nigerians. We therefore call on the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, and the National Council on Establishment not to approve the current version of the draft scheme of service for Community Health Officers as it is froth with infractions and beyond the scope of practice for Community Health Officers.
The Association further reiterates that:
1. Having learnt from the COVID pandemic experience, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government need step up action on upgrading medical laboratory services provisioning in Nigeria by capacitating practitioners with contemporary knowledge, expertise and technology;
2. Government must also build the capacity of Regulatory Agencies especially that of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) to propel optimal practice regulation and excellence;
3. The Government must also draw attention of donor agencies and funding partners towards supporting medical laboratory services provisioning in Nigeria;
4. Government must intervene now and cut down on the multiple taxation imposed on private Medical Laboratory practitioners, especially by state and local governments;
5. The President Tinubu administration must make sure it distinguishes itself from all others by compelling all the Agencies and Authorities concerned with healthcare services delivery to comply with extant regulations, laws and policies as relates particularly to the medical laboratory services delivery system and the healthcare system generally.
6. The Minister of Health must not give way to any wrong influence or faction that will try to coerce him from implementing all letters of the National Health Act.
THE WORLD AIDS DAY – DECEMBER 01
The World AIDS Day is worth commemorating worldwide, medical laboratory scientists are part of the resilient community that is committed to reducing the HIV scourge with the objective of ending active transmission of the virus globally.
Nigerian medical laboratory scientists also have contributed significantly in the current reduction in the prevalence, having been playing leading roles in various sentinel studies to characterize the HIV pandemic in Nigeria. Their efforts in diagnosis, care, treatment and management of persons living with HIV in Nigeria are worthy of commendation.
AMLSN is therefore calling on the donor community, including NGOs working in the area of HIV, to partner more with the Association by way of the interventions in Nigeria, to build the capacity of scientists and provide support facilities with state-of-the-art equipment including testing kits and the necessary devices needed.
HIV is not a death sentence. As the government continues its intervention efforts against the scourge, people living with the virus must avail themselves for treatment.
Thank you All and God Bless.
Read more
- Dr. Casmir Ifeanyi appreciates Medical Lab. Scientists
- Medical Testing: AMLSN warns Chemists, Pharmacies & CHOs
- Open Letter to the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria
 National President Dr. Casmir Ifeanyi){kind=link}