Kumasi, Jan. 10, GNA - The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has appealed to the Government to fast track passage of an Act that would regulate the practice of health laboratory services in Ghana. He said laboratory services played critical role in the health delivery system and there was the need for effective and efficient regulatory mechanisms to achieve quality assurance and remove quacks from the system. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II made the appeal in an address read for him at a joint dinner and awards ceremony organized by the Ghana Association of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS) in Kumasi last Friday. The occasion was also used to launch a two-year strategic plan and a website for the Association.

The Asantehene said people should know that the laboratory practitioner could both save life and push people into their graves earlier. This, he added, made it imperative for all to be concerned about their activities.

Mr Kofi Opoku Manu, the Ashanti Regional Minister, advised the leadership of the Association to effectively monitor the implementation of their strategic plan in order to achieve set targets. He recognized the significant contribution laboratory practitioners wer= e making to healthcare delivery and called on them to maintain high level of professionalism.

Dr Aaron Ofei, Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, urged them to institute self regulatory mechanisms as they waited for the Act. Professor Ohene Adjei, Chief Executive of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospita= l (KATH), said laboratory practice was not an ordinary practice that should b= e left unattended to. He underlined the need for efficient legislative framework to regulate the activities of practitioners.

Mr Prince Amuzu, the National President of the Association, traced the history of laboratory practice in Ghana and said members had cried for far too long for the law to be introduced. He commended the founding fathers of the Association for their untiring efforts and invaluable contribution to laboratory practice. He said their two-year strategic plan would focus on sustained advocacy to promote efficiency.

Mr Thomas Kwabena Gyampomah, the Ashanti Regional Chairman, noted that without efficient laboratory diagnosis, health delivery services would be i= n jeopardy and called for support from all Ghanaians. Professor Dr Dr Wereko Brobbey, former Dean of College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Ohene Adjei, Chief Executive of KATH, and Medlab Diagnostic Services, were among individuals and organizations honoured by the Association for their contributions to laboratory practice in Ghana.