The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) has renewed its call to the government and Parliament to enact legislation for the establishment of a Medical Laboratory Science Council to ensure proper professional regulation of its members.

The Council, it said, would also ensure effective regulation of the services being provided by members of the association to enhance their contribution to quality health care delivery across the country.

Ashanti Regional Chairman of the GAMLS, Dr George Yaw Ayerakwah, made the call at a health screening event at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital as part of activities marking International Biomedical Laboratory Science Day.

Medical laboratory science has one of the largest memberships among professions regulated by the Allied Health Professions Council in the health sector.

The profession comprises laboratory assistants, technical officers, scientists, and doctors of medical laboratory science.

Dr Ayerakwah, however, said the sheer number of members in the association required that a law be passed to set up the Medical Laboratory Science Council to effectively regulate the profession and the services offered by its members.

"We are currently regulated by the Allied Health Professions Council, an authority that oversees a wide range of health professions. This has created obstacles for us when seeking approval for our submitted proposals.

"Once we have the opportunity to establish our own council, it will help us monitor our members, conduct our own investigations, and manage accreditation, PIN renewal, and other matters to ensure that only qualified persons are employed in the profession," Dr Ayerakwah stated.

He therefore called on the Minister of Health, the law-making body, and stakeholders to heed the appeal from the association.

In order to enhance workforce capacity, he appealed to the government to recruit more qualified medical laboratory staff to help manage the workload in laboratory facilities.

According to him, there is still a backlog of qualified persons who need to be employed to ensure the delivery of quality healthcare.

"As we speak, we have a lot of professionals at home who have not been employed. Therefore on an occasion like this, we want to advocate that the government should employ them," said Dr Ayerakwah.