HEALTH MINISTER ADVOCATES QUALITY STANDARDS IN LABORATORY SERVICES

The Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu has called for the standardization of medical laboratory service practices across the country.

He said if laboratory facilities were properly registered and certified, it would minimize the variations in laboratory test results churned out by different laboratory facilities.

The Minister said “There have been variations with test results among various laboratories. Not only that of COVID-19, but others such as ordinary fasting blood sugar test, cholesterol test, kidney function test and full blood count.”

Hon. Agyeman-Manu said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Stephen Yakubu at the 2021 Annual National Congress of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists held in Bolgatanga.

The Health Minister said the establishment of any facility, institution or firm required registration and certification, noting that his sector was no exception, as the Registrar General’s Department and Health Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) were respectively in charge of registration and certification.

The Hon . Agyeman-Manu indicated that any facility which was not duly registered with a valid license, was not a recognized facility to seek healthcare services, and entreated members of the public to always look out for the HeFRA licensed logo before they patronized health facilities.

The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye in a speech read on his behalf, said the Service was committed to ensuring that laboratories and other health facilities adhered to the required standard practice of health service delivery.

He said the GHS would continue to ensure that Medical Laboratories in the country were retooled and equipped with modern technological equipment to meet the growing health needs of the Ghanaian population.

The Congress wad on the theme; “Standardizing Medical Laboratory Science practice in Ghana to better position the country in the midst of Infectious Diseases.”