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MLSCN shuts 15 quack medical laboratories in Abuja

By John Okeke, Abuja
18 March 2015   |   11:00 pm
Briefing the pressmen in Abuja on Tuesday the Registrar, MLSCN, Prof. Anthony Emeribe, said the Federal Government is committed to sanitizing the sector to riding it of illegal practices.

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) has sealed off 15 quack medical laboratories in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the laboratory system in the country.

This comprise of four private hospital clinic laboratories, two pharmacy laboratories and nine standalone medical laboratories.

This was a fallout of a week long inspection by the agency to uncover quack laboratories in FCT communities which include Gwagwalada, Mpape , Kubwa , and Lugbe among others .

Briefing the pressmen in Abuja on Tuesday the Registrar, MLSCN, Prof. Anthony Emeribe, said the Federal Government is committed to sanitizing the sector to riding it of illegal practices.

He said: “The council has been working tirelessly to sanitize the entire medical laboratory services sector with a view to ridding it of quacks, fake or substandard products and other encumbrance to accurate, reliable and reproducible medical laboratory test results and reports.”

“This becomes even more crucial considering that empirical data indicate up to that 60 to 85 per cent of the indices required for effective clinical diagnosis and management of diseases is derived from the medical laboratory.”

Emeribe, however, lamented what he called “a common and disturbing trend” that after sealing up quackery laboratories the owners defied it and embark on their illegal practice.

He said: “For example, we discovered that after visiting a facility and possibly sealing it due to poor standards, as soon as we were out of sight , the operators would break the seal and continue with their nefarious activities.”

The Registrar vowed that the agency will not give clamp down on those who engages in such illegal practices.

Emeribe said “But they will not deter us , as we are determined to take the fight to all nook and crannies of this country . It is our duty and we will do it for the good of Nigeria.

“Regardless of the successes already recorded in reducing quackery and the preponderance of fake or substandard medical laboratory products in the country, we still have a lot to do.”

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