The Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa has expressed the determination of the Federal Government to establish the National Health Care Facility Regulatory Agency to ensure comprehensive meaningful healthcare services delivery to all Nigerians. This was contained in a statement signed by Ado Bako, AD (Information and Public Relations).
Dr. Tunji Alausa made this announcement while innagurating Members of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Technical Team on National Medical Laboratory Regulation and Inspection Against Quackery in his Office on the 15th August 2024.
The Minister explained that the establishment of the Agency would be a significant step forward in government efforts to protect the health and well-being of Nigerians.
He described as shocking, the recent revelations about illegal harvesting of kidney rings operating in Abuja and some parts of the country, pointing out that presently there is no legal mechanism in place to punish such facilities but only the Professionals that work in such facilities can be sanctioned.
“In light of the shocking discoveries regarding the illegal activities in some of our healthcare facilities ,it has become imperative to enforce strict regulations to protect our citizens,” the State Minister stresses.
Shading more light on their determinations to ensure the achievement of Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Renewed Hope Agenda, especially in the Health sector of proving a comprehensive meaningful healthcare services to every Nigerian, the Minister explained that he and the Honourable Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor, Muhammad Ali Pate, have designed four pillars which includes: Improve Governance in the Health sector, Improve Health Population outcomes, unlock Healthcare value chain and Health Security for Nigerians. He affirmed that the initiative has yielded positive results.
Dr. Alausa who said that the Ministry of Health is pragmatic in it’s approaches, it designs practicable policies and provide funding support to the policies, further stated that even though, Global Fund has given support to the Technical Team, the Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, should make budget provision to fund the activities of the Team.
He charged members of the Technical Team not to led the Nation down and implored them to put a process in place whereby the accredited laboratories should be reaccreditated, saying that with the project called Diagnosis Network Obtimal(DNO), currently undergoing by Global Fund of mapping the entire laboratories in Nigeria, the Team will have a database of all laboratories in the country that it can work with, urging the Registrar, MLSCN to ensure that the database are accurate.
The State Minister for Health and Social Welfare who lamented that right now in Nigeria, there are several laboratories across the country without regulation, hence the need to regulate and accreditate them with a view to providing best results, warning that every Laboratory should have results generating equipment and laboratories without Laboratory Information System should be shut down.
“We are committed to ensuring that every Laboratory in Nigeria provides validated and reliable results which are crucial for making sound healthcare decisions.
Our goal is to instil confidence in our healthcare system, ensuring that every test result is accurate and every treatment decision is based on reliable data. As Reforms begin to take shape, many hope that they will mark a turning point in Nigeria’s quest to build a rubust and trustworthy healthcare system, ” he reiterates.
Dr. Alausa stated that members of the Team were carefully chosen and expressed confidence that the media representatives in the Team will help in sensitizing and enlightened the citizenry, urging the Technical Team to create a functional inspection protocols and identify sustainable funding sources.
In his response, the Chairman of the Technical Team who is also the Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Professor, Tosan Erhabor, stressed the need to reassess and update current standards for medical laboratory inspection, stating that 70% of medical diagnosis rely on Laboratory investigation, this according to him highlighted the importance of accurate and reliable results.
Erhabor said that the current inspection model faces issues such as poor monitoring, inadequate funding, and misconception about the necessity of inspection.
Professor, Tosan mentioned that among the goals of the Technical Team include: developing a sustainable, cost-effective model for National Laboratory Inspections, improve quality management system in medical laboratories, reducing health tourism by enhancing local diagnostic capabilities and combating quackery and unprofessional practices in laboratories.
This according to him, aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda that encourages innovative solutions to existing challenges.
The chairman of the Technical Team promised to discharge the assignment given to them as expected.
Among the fifteen members of the Technical Team, three are drawn from the media, which include: Joseph Kadiri from Independent Television Communication, Franca N. Ofili , from News Agency of Nigeria and Adeloju Modupe , Radio Nigeria (Capital FM).
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