Covid-19: Prioritise the healthcare of citizens over profit and politics – Medical Laboratory Scientists to government

The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists has decried what it says is the lack of commitment from authorities in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The Association is displeased that testing centres for the virus is still limited in the country despite calls from them for same to be expanded.

GAMLS says they have asked government to expand testing “using GeneXpert facilities available across the country, to speed up the testing process to reduce the community spread of the virus.”

The Association also noted the “failure of government to strengthen clinical health and private sector laboratories to provide testing for Covid-19 and other complementary tests.”

“This neglect must be addressed with a matter of urgency. GAMLS proposes a Technical Working group for the clinical laboratories for Covid-19 Testing to address this anomaly.”

GAMLS also charged the government to recruit unemployed health professionals to help in the fight, arguing that: role of qualified personnel in fighting a pandemic of the nature the country is faced with is crucial.

The recruitment, they said, would help “to augment medical laboratory services in our health facilities.”

They also called for provision of adequate PPEs for medical staff. “This is still a challenge despite the good efforts made by government.

“GAMLS calls on government to prioritize the healthcare of citizens over profit and politics,” GAMLS wrote.

They also asked the public to adhere to the preventive protocols in order to stop the spread of the virus.