The President of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), Dr Eric Kofi Aidoo, has renewed calls for the establishment of a dedicated Medical Laboratory Council to regulate the practice of medical laboratory science across the country.
Delivering his address at the opening of the 2026 Annual Congress at the GAMLS National Secretariat Complex in Ngleshie Amanfro, Accra, Dr Aidoo insisted that it is no longer tenable for the profession to remain under the Allied Health Professions Council, which currently oversees more than 20 distinct healthcare fields.
Although he acknowledged the work done by the Allied Health Professions Council so far, the GAMLS President emphasized that the body remains overstretched and lacks the capacity to offer the specialized focus essential for a critical discipline like medical laboratory science.
“A single regulator responsible for more than 20 professions cannot give medical laboratory science the attention, focus and specialized oversight it demands in licensing, standards, discipline and continuous professional development,” he noted.
Underlining the pivotal role played by practitioners in the healthcare delivery chain, Dr Aidoo highlighted how every laboratory result directly shapes major clinical decisions and patient outcomes.
“It is an undeniable fact that our work carries unusual weight because a laboratory result informs a diagnosis, a treatment, a transfusion or a surgery. A profession of that consequence needs a regulator that knows it closely,” he stated.
According to him, establishing an independent Medical Laboratory Council will guarantee rigorous registration and licensing processes, enforce strict practice standards, expedite disciplinary actions, and drive the robust quality assurance required to anchor national policy initiatives such as the Free Primary Healthcare agenda.
The four-day national gathering, running from November 4 to 7, is being held under the theme: “Diagnostics at the Heart of Healthcare: Strengthening Laboratory Systems for Ghana’s Free Primary Healthcare Agenda.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana