GMLS urges government to establish fund for public health emergency preparedness, recruit professionals

Members of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists(GAMLS) have appealed to the government through the Ministry of Health to establish a fund for Public Health emergency preparedness. They urged the government to make the current Covid-19 Trust fund and the COVID-19 levy as basis for the fund they require for. Speaking during the Association's Annual National Council (ANC) in the Ashanti region on Thursday, Dr. Abu Abudu Rahamani, President of the GAMLS said, aside from the fund, they also urge the government to stop resorting to the use of quacks with task-shifting approaches and rather recruit qualified and licensed professionals. “The Health Agencies and various Regulators, especially the Health Facility and Regulatory Agencies (HEFRA) must ensure that only qualified professionals perform the test in facilities they accredit even in the quest of increasing access to health care,” he noted. The GAMLS President also appealed government for the de-bundling of laboratory services in the National Health Insurance Scheme and resolution of the more than two-year-old impasse between Physicians/Clinicians and Medical Laboratory Scientists He said these during the 2022 Annual National Council (ANC) of the GAMLS in Kumasi last Thursday on the theme: The ANC is the highest profile event on the GAMLS’ calendar and gives medical laboratory practitioners and the academia the opportunity to meet to deliberate on the theme for the year and also keep them abreast with new developments in their field. This year's ANC was themed “Capacity Enhancement of Medical Laboratory Practice in Ghana: Cornerstone of Future Pandemic Response” The President further noted that the COVID-19 pandemic together with the emerging threat of other viral infectious diseases demanded a careful look at the healthcare system, particularly in the diagnostic arm of health. “There are diverse warnings that the next global pandemic of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance, and the epidemic of inequality in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) lurks at the door – a situation even more escalated by the extensive misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in this era of COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. He continued that it was very worrying that the various district laboratories have no microbiological testing capacity due to infrastructure. "Up to now, many of these laboratories fall short of reagents rendering them incapable of delivering quality and highly standardized laboratory service to the predominantly impoverished Ghanaian patronising our centers. This is to say conscious funding for the medical laboratory service is now more important than ever for both material, human resources, and infrastructural capacity building,” he continued. Commending government and the health ministry for the establishment of an office of the Chief Programmes officer, Allied Health Professions, Dr. Dramani said the office was going to be responsible for the issues of Allied Health practice at the ministry level. He further appealed for a similar organizational structure to be provided across the healthcare system at all levels. Representing the Ashanti overlord Otumfuo Osei Tutu as chairman of the occasion, Nana Osei- Hyiaman, Otumfuo’s Mawerehene, commended GAMLS for their contributions to the health care delivery within the country. He further urged them to continue with the good works and pledged the monarch's readiness to support their course. Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei- Mensah, commenting on the theme for the occasion described it as apt and timely since the recent outbreak of Monkeypox and Marburg diseases were clear cases of the need to strengthen the capacities of the Medical Laboratory Profession for the good people of Ghana, especially the Ashanti Region. Mahama Asei Seini, Deputy Minister of Health, reading a speech on behalf of the sector minister commended the Medical Laboratory Scientists for their tremendous performance in the outbreak of Marburg disease and Monkey Pox. According to him, their efforts were commendable by many Ghanaians and the global health community. Touching on the quackery issue, the minister called for the establishment of independent regulatory bodies, policies, and systems that would be well-resourced to ensure quackery in the health system. On the theme, he noted that the current era of a double burden of non-communicable and infectious diseases requires that professional practice of medical laboratory science in the world, and Ghana, in particular, is above reproach, is of the highest quality, and could stand the test of time. He continued that, the establishment of any facility, institution, or firm requires registration and certification. “In our health sector, the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) and Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) are respectively in charge of registration and certification." He further revealed that any facility that is neither registered with RGD nor licensed by HeFRA, is not a valid place to seek health care. He however urged that it was very important to always look out for the “HeFRA licensed” certificate and logo before patronising services in any facility.