The Ghana Association of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS) has called for the government to move quickly to implement the national health laboratory policy.

Mr. Dennis Adu-Gyasi, its Public Relations Officer, said this was critical to raise the quality of laboratory science practice to meet international health standards.

He said the association found it deeply worrying the feet dragging by the Health Ministry on the implementation of the policy - developed through the support of the United States (US) Government in year 2013.

It is meant to guide laboratory scientists in their operations to achieve quality service delivery and strengthen laboratory research.

Mr. Adu-Gyasi, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said the policy could no longer wait.

He indicated that its absence was stalling and depriving their members of privileges enjoyed by other health professionals.

They have no grounds to bargain for better conditions of services and sidelined when it comes to taking decisions affecting healthcare services.

He also complained about the lack of a mechanism to monitor and evaluate their output and said these were some of the things the policy would help to correct.

Again, Mr. Adu-Gyasi said it was important to look at the organizational and administrative structures of the hospitals to make sure that the laboratory department was headed by a professional laboratory scientist and not doctors.

There were more qualified laboratory scientists out there to lead and bring efficiency into the operation of the laboratories, he added.