The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLs) is advising its members to withdraw from environments where personal protective equipment (PPEs) are unavailable for the discharge of their duties.
The President of the Association, Dr. Ignatius Awinibuno called on the government to adequately resource front line officers.
“A lot of our members lack basic PPE’s and basic sample collection procedures. Its been able two weeks since this outbreak and suspected cases and we have not seen our way clear and the preparedness of the laboratory towards managing the situation. We have a lot of stake in the system now and I think the Minister of Environment in collaborations with the profession can validate and use at our borderline at the borders of Ghana. In situations, infections are very cautious so it is the duty of management to under the labour Act to provide whatever equipment needed and protective equipment that employees need to be able to perform their duties,” he said in an interview.
The Association in a separate statement urged its members to strictly adhere to good laboratory practices.
“All laboratory managers and supervisors must ensure that PPEs are available for use by all staff, most especially when dealing with suspected COVID-19 patients,” the statement added.
The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLs) is advising its members to withdraw from environments where personal protective equipment (PPEs) are unavailable for the discharge of their duties.
There are reports that some major hospitals lack basic personal protective equipment like face masks, sanitizers, and gloves.
The President of the Association, Dr. Ignatius Awinibuno called on the government to adequately resource front line officers.
“A lot of our members lack basic PPE’s and basic sample collection procedures. Its been able two weeks since this outbreak and suspected cases and we have not seen our way clear and the preparedness of the laboratory towards managing the situation. We have a lot of stake in the system now and I think the Minister of Environment in collaborations with the profession can validate and use at our borderline at the borders of Ghana. In situations, infections are very cautious so it is the duty of management to under the labour Act to provide whatever equipment needed and protective equipment that employees need to be able to perform their duties,” he said in an interview.
The Association in a separate statement urged its members to strictly adhere to good laboratory practices.
“All laboratory managers and supervisors must ensure that PPEs are available for use by all staff, most especially when dealing with suspected COVID-19 patients,” the statement added.
GAMLs also called on the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to facilitate the training of all medical
laboratory scientists at the tertiary, regional and district hospitals to enable them perform their roles effectively.
“Government is encouraged to continue to resource the two testing facilities – the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine and the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, to adequately perform testing on suspected COVID-19 patients,” GAMLs added in the statement.
The Association also urged Government to “immediately explore the possibilities of collaborating with researchers at the Universities to at least restructure and resource the Public Health Laboratories, Teaching Hospital Laboratories and selected laboratories at the country’s borders with state-of-the-art portable PCR devices and certified biosafety cabinets to enable them test COVID-19 suspected samples.”
