Ghana needs
revised regulatory framework for health professionals in order to safeguard
public health and meet international best practices, says the President of the Ghana
Association Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS).
Prince Sodoke
Amuzu is therefore advocating the speedy passage of the Health Professions
Regulatory Bodies Bill, which would regulate the training and practice of
allied health professions in the country when passed into law.
He was reacting
to calls by Deputy Health Minister, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, for members of the Association
to take solace in the passage of other health-related bills.
Addressing
the Annual National Congress of the GABMLS, holding in Kumasi, Mr. Mettle-Nunoo
enjoined members of the Association to celebrate and congratulate parliament for
passing “very strategic and critical bills for the health sector”, including
the Mental Health Bill, Professional Institutions Bill and the Public Health
Bill.
Prince
Amuzu however says quackery in the allied health professions remains a major
obstacle to quality health delivery.
“The
particular legislation that can take away quackery has not been passed”, he
told Luv Fm. “The regulation about bio-safety, public [and] mental health are
all nice regulations that are useful for our healthcare system; but the professional
that performs the duty is not regulated and those that are even regulated –
Medical and Dental, Pharmacy and Nursing – their regulation is not competent because
the laws are old and need review”.
According
to Prince Amuzu, the challenges with the existing laws regulating the health
services are addressed in the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Bill.
The GABS
scientific forum is discussing prevailing public health issues in the country, including
new operating procedures, initiatives and standards of work.
The theme
for the three-day Congress is “Strengthening
Medical Laboratory Services and Systems in Ghana: Key in Promoting Quality
Healthcare Delivery”.
Vice-President,
Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, in a speech read for him, acknowledged that
availability and access to quality laboratory services are among major
challenges contributing to delayed or inappropriate responses to epidemics,
disease control and patient management.
He therefore
identified the “need for a comprehensive national laboratory policy which will
focus on laboratory organization, structure and coordination. Such a policy
should provide a guide for staff training, motivation and retention, the
integration of services and standards for the provision and maintenance of
essential facilities and equipment”.
President
of the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Professor Vincent Gallicchio is among reputable
local and international speakers attending the Congress.
For him,
there exists deficiency in the overall health system “without having properly
structured, accredited and credential personnel, laboratory professionals as
well as the hospitals [and] educational programmes to train them”.
Biomedical
Laboratory Scientists are entrusted with the onerous assignment of providing
quality diagnosis that is at the centre of treatment and management of
diseases.
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