Prof. Augustine Umoh, the Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Health, said that he has closed 12 medical laboratories for allegedly involving in unwholesome medical practices dangerous to excellent health care delivery services.
Umoh made the disclosure to newsmen in Uyo after the Inspection Team sealed some laboratories on Sunday.
He said the clampdown is in compliance with the directive from the State Executive Council over sub standard services of medical Laboratories operators in the state.
The Commissioner listed offences of the sealed laboratories to include lack of Certificate of registration with the State Ministry of Health, Non evidence of registration with
Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria, lack of qualified Laboratory Scientists and other supporting staff in the Laboratories.
Others were the lack of Test Result Book in the Laboratories, no Laboratory Register, lack of personal operating license of Laboratory Technicians as well as unethical practices dangerous to medical diagnosis of diseases.
“I have received a number of complains with regards to medical laboratory facilities and practice and this is an attempt to correct some of this abnormalities.
“As a matter of fact, the state Executive Council has also received many of these reports and also directed that this exercise be carried out.
“So our intention is to use this exercise to give further directive to the practice of laboratory services for effective service delivery in the state,” Umoh said.
Umoh explained that monitoring of Medical Laboratories would be extended to other parts of the state such as Ikot Ekpene, Abak, Eket and Oron Local Government Areas axis of the state to check quack Laboratories in the state.
“We are going out on monitoring to make sure that Laboratory facility services in the state are in conformity with what is expected to the extent that the practices are at least of the best practices.
“We have started with medical Laboratories in Uyo metropolis but we would certainly extend it to all nooks and crannies of the state,” the Health Commissioner said.
The Head of the Monitoring/Inspection Team, Dr. Augustine Udoh, said lack of precision in medical laboratory test administered to patients resulted in poor medical diagnosis .
Udoh said such medical diagnosis emanating from defective Laboratory facilities could mislead Medical Doctors in prescribing the right drugs for treatment of various ailments.
He said one of the Laboratories visited was using a student on Industrial Training to work and issue test results instead of Certified Laboratory Scientist while others impersonate popular names of Laboratory Scientist in the state to defraud members of public.
“The clampdown on fake laboratories in the state would continue in the new year till we reposition their services, achieve health for all in completion agenda of Gov. Udom Emmanuel,” he said.
He explained that those laboratories sealed would only be reopened when their proprietors fulfill all conditions by the state Ministry of Health, including engagement of competent technical personnel in their Laboratory facilities.
Electoral Act: Overriding Buhari will lead to constitutional crisis – Senator
Victor Akinpelu, Ilorin
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Sadiq Umar, has said overriding President Buhari on the Electoral Act Bill would have plunged the country into a constitutional Crisis.
Umar who represents Kwara North in the Red Chambers said this weekend while fielding questions from reporters at the NUJ secretariat, Ilorin.
The programme was organised by the Correspondents Chapel.
According to him, the senators did not do a u-turn on the issue but were forced by the decision of the House of Representatives to stand down the debate on the President’s letter.
He said: “What happened was that after the National Assembly passed the Electoral Act, the president wrote back to us given reasons why he could not assent.
“We believe some of the reasons, some we don’t, others we are confused and doubting.
“For the senate, we were ready to override and there was a debate where we struggled on this.
“But while that was going on, the House of Representatives unfortunately did not address the president’s letter. They felt it was a hot matter that need more consultations and engagement and kept it in abeyance to pass the budget with a plan to return to it after coming back from the holiday when they would have engaged with their constituents.
“For us, we were preparing to do what we wanted to do but given our rules and constitutional provision, even if we eventually overruled the president in the senate, it would have been null and void becuase there has to be concurrence between the two chambers.
“So the senators also buy into the decision of the green chambers to continue consultations with our people so that when we resume, we will do want the people want us to do or what we have seen is the best for Nigeria.
“Our action was a strategic decision to avoid constitutional crisis”, he submitted.
Sadiq who denied that the senate was a rubber stamp to the executive justified the approvals of all the loan requests by the president.
“The popular saying is that Nigeria is very rich, but that saying is erroneous when you justapose it with our revenue and population.
“The amount of money we need to revamp the education sector alone, the whole money available to government cannot do it and same thing goes for all other sectors like health and Infrastructure among others”
“The bitter truth is that the country cannot do a single Infrastructure without loans now except salaries becuase of revenue constraints”, he added.
