IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

By:  Marcus Fatunmole

Nigerian health sector took a new dimension at the weekend as Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) vowed to tackle the Nigerian Medical Association for allegedly abusing the judiciary, legislature and Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, over issues that serve the interest of AMLSN which were approved by the institutions.

Reacting to a recent statement by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, which alerted the public on an impending disaster and collapse of government hospitals and public health sector in Nigeria, AMLSN, through its national president and national secretary, Alhaji Toyosi Raheem and Surajudeen Junaid respectively, said that it was the doctors who should be blamed for the impending collapse of the sector. AMLSN said in a statement made available to the National Mirror through its Public Relations Officer, Tam Adeyeye, that it was aggrieved by doctor’s insults to the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the judiciary and the legislature that was contained in the NMA’s statement. It threatening that it would ensure the doctors are punished. It said the doctors raised issues that were irrelevant to contemporary medical practice, one of which is supervision and signing of medical laboratory tests by pathologists before they are acceptable by doctors. It said that pathologist have no business counter-singing the results of medical laboratory tests performed, reviewed and signed by licensed medical laboratory scientists.

“As it stands today, only MLSCN is saddled with the task of inspecting, monitoring, accrediting, and regulating the practice of Medical Laboratory Science in both public and private hospitals in Nigeria. Funny enough, the enabling law for Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, which is the regulatory body for all medical doctors in Nigeria does not give MDCN power to inspect, monitor or accredit clinics and hospitals which they should have requested to have, at least, to flush out substandard hospitals and clinics that are daily killing innocent Nigerians,” AMLSN said. Besides, the association said it was peeved by NMA’s call on chief medical directors and medical directors of hospitals to privatize and outsource some services performed by trained health workers, and consequently rendered the workers redundant. According to the group, this is more so since the CMDS and MDs across the country are doctors, which it said would make such negative advice sail through.

AMLSN also kicked against the implementation of the Yayale-Ahmed committee report for the sector. It said the report contained recommendation that undermined the roles of other health professionals except the doctors. The NMA had said government should allowed irrelevant programmes for non-medical doctors, be outsourced because they are impacting negatively on the finances of government. It had also said the health workers, rather than remain in hospitals where they are employed to work, resort to strikes while making needless demands on government and attempt to usurp doctors of its leadership rule in hospitals. Reacting, AMLSN said the doctors are greedy, and do not want non-medical professionals to rise.

Culled from Daily Mirror, Nigeria