Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, has called on the government and Nigerian stakeholders to strengthen the medical laboratory profession in order to mitigate the spread of intractable diseases.
An intractable disease is a sickness that is hard to cure.
Dr. Dakuku made this call during the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) 18th annual lecture and national executive council meeting held recently in Ebonyi State.
“Medical laboratory scientists are strategic in the detection and response to emerging intractable diseases like COVID-19, as well as longstanding ones such as malaria and tuberculosis, to prevent large-scale deaths,” he noted.
Dr. Dakuku also advised practitioners to collaborate and undertake research to find the best solutions to public health crises, while admonishing the government to scale up funding for laboratory equipment, education, and research.
Dakuku, who served as chairman at the event themed “Mitigating Intractable Disease Outbreaks through Strengthened Medical Laboratory Services,” said the event was important because it served as an avenue to remind the country to be proactive in dealing with national health issues.
Furthermore, he commended the members of AMLSN for putting together the event and the Governor of Ebonyi State, Francis Nwifuru, who was the special guest of honor, for his remarkable achievements in the state’s health sector.
Speaking, the Ebonyi State AMLSN Chairman, Emmanuel Okeh, also recounted Nwifuru’s health strides in his one year in office, saying: “Sports utility vehicles were given to doctors in the state, over 200 medical overseas postgraduate scholarships were awarded, and medical equipment was purchased…”
In addition, Dr. Emmanuel reiterated AMLSN’s commitment to advancing the medical laboratory profession to attain global standards.
