The events took place at the medical outfit’s complex at
FESTAC TOWN, Lagos. El-Lab is a pioneer internationally accredited medical
laboratory in Nigeria. Speaking at the occasion, Prince Adibo said it was a
thing of joy that El- Lab’s contributions to the country’s health sector has
have been recognized. His words: “Today is a very remarkable day to our
organization, a day all quality loving persons in the health sector and the
public have gathered to recognize and celebrate the mark of achievement of
quality in the health care delivery system in Nigeria”.
A visibly elated El- Lab MD/CEO further said: “For Medical
laboratories world over, we seek accreditation to ISO 15189:2012 which is the
particular requirement for quality and competence. It is an internationally
recognized standard that prescribes the requirements necessary for diagnostic
laboratories to demonstrate the quality and competence of their services, as
well as consistently deliver technically valid test or examination results as
they are known in the standard”.
EL-LAB LTD is an indigenous quality-driven branded medical laboratory
company with a global outlook and worldwide commitment. The Laboratory had a
very humble beginning in July 1998.It started operation at a small partitioned
apartment but with a VERY CLEAR MISSION of being a leading and trusted
INDIGENOUS medical diagnostic institution with internationally acceptable
standards. In its 19 years of existence, El- Lab has imbibed quality culture
and embraced best practices in continuous quality improvement.
Prince Adibo said
the awards was a mission accomplished, recalling that on December 01, 2016 in
Abuja the Hon Minister of Health,IssacAdewole, through the Accreditation
service of MLSCN under the headship of TosanErharbor presented ISO 15189:2012
International Accreditation to three (3) deserving laboratories based in Lagos
State, of which El-Lab is the only indigenous private laboratory.
According to data from Research gate taken from American Journal of Pathology, there
were as at 2014, 380 medical laboratories accredited to International Standards
in Sub Saharan Africa. Ninety-one (91%) were in South Africa, 37 out of the 49
countries had no Laboratories accredited to international quality standards. Of
these labs, 78% were private, 17% were public while 5% were research labs.
In Nigeria today, there are over 12,000 listed medical
laboratories (of which less than 5000 are registered) but none had ISO
15189:2012 accreditation as at November 2016 except one which has accreditation
from the South African National Accreditation Service (SANAS).
In Africa’s most populous country with over 170 million
people with only over 200,000 qualified Medical Laboratory Scientists and a
handful qualified Pathologists. The above grim statistics led Adibo to declared
that,“we (Nigeria)must strive to improve on this poor and dismal ratio of about
0.01 Internationally Accredited Medical Laboratory to One (1) million Nigerians
rather than engaging in fruitless bickering and unhealthy rivalry in various
health institutions while Nigerians who certainly deserve more are left to bear
this brunt”.
He was of the view that medical laboratories (and in fact
all organizations) need quality. And that achieving this quality to an
international standard (ISO) requires hardwork, commitment and can also be very
expensive. Adibo said El-Lab is ready to collaborate, and partner to spread
quality, build capacity and train to ensure that “our future and medical
laboratory environments are transformed so that reliable medical laboratory
services are available all over Nigeria”.
The El-Lab boss however, rued that “when our practice fails
to improve, foreign medical personnel would take advantage and cart away their
gains in scarce foreign exchange. I therefore call on all stake holders to rise
up to this challenge to put Nigeria in its rightful place in the global health
care map”.
He paid glowing tribute to all those who in one way or the
other contributed to making El-Lab received the certificates of accreditation
and awards. He specially thanked, Almighty God “without whom all of these
wouldn’t have been possible”.
He also thanked the president, MohammaduBuhari and the
Health Minister for creating an enabling environment to improve quality
services in the health sector.
Adibo was also full of effusive praises for the Lagos State
Ministry of Health and Commissioner for Health, Dr. JideIdris, the HEFAMAA
team,Amuwo-Odofin Local Government and Medical Laboratory Science Council of
Nigeria (MLSCN), for their mentorship and support.
He equally expressed gratitude to the entire Medical
Laboratory Scientists in Nigeria through the Association of Medical.
Laboratory. Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) and the clinical pathologists,
El-Lab’s valued clients who have believed in the firm’s consistently reliable
services all these years and Comrade AyodeleAdewale, the last immediate past
chairman of AmuwoOdofin Local Government Area for his unwavering support at all
times.
He also specially thanked his lovelywife,ChiomaAdibo for her
endless tolerance and unflinching support as well as his dedicated staff at
El-Lab.
Ingram Osigwe is the MD of Fullpage Int’l comm ltd.
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