The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, AMLSN, Lagos State Chapter, don call on Federal Government to urgently reform Nigeria medical laboratory sector and reduce the country heavy dependence on imported diagnostic products.
The association make the call for their 61st Annual Scientific Conference wey recently hold for Lagos, where medical experts identify poor funding, weak local manufacturing, regulatory gaps and shortage of specialist manpower as major challenges for the sector.
One major concern be say Nigeria dey import between 95 and 99 per cent of in-vitro diagnostic products wey laboratories dey use.
Conference Chairman and Managing Director of ISN Medical, Felix Ofungwu, say this heavy dependence on foreign supplies dey expose Nigeria healthcare system to serious risk, especially when supply chain get disruption.
AMLSN therefore want government to develop step-by-step national plan for local production of diagnostic products and increase investment in genomic surveillance, especially as infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance continue to threaten public health.
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The association also call for stronger regulation of point-of-care testing, digital health and Artificial Intelligence for medical diagnosis.
AMLSN warn say although AI fit improve healthcare, government must put proper regulation, quality control and skilled manpower in place before widespread adoption.
At the conference, an AI-assisted system reportedly reduce the time to classify leukaemia cases from several days to about two hours.
The association also call for more postgraduate training and mentorship for medical laboratory scientists to address manpower shortages.
Meanwhile, AMLSN renew its opposition to HB 2701 and HB 2695, saying the proposed amendments could weaken the independence of the laboratory regulator and affect accreditation standards.
The group also urge government to protect healthcare workers from kidnapping and include diagnostic and laboratory services in the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services funded through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
AMLSN say Nigeria experience with genomic sequencing during COVID-19 don already show why strong laboratory systems remain critical for disease surveillance, outbreak response and future pandemic preparedness.
