Despite the critical role of laboratory services in modern healthcare, the Laboratory Private Sector has been excluded in inclusive policies, infrastructure improvement, support funding allocations as well as research grants, NewsSpecng learnt.
The President of the Guild of Medical Laboratory Directors, GMLD, Prince Elochukwu Adibo also lamented the non-existence of Laboratory Private Sector in the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS.
Adibo spoke during the 23rd Annual Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Guild Directors of Medical Laboratory Directors in Abuja.
He said the ill situations faced by the sector prompted the theme of the event ‘harnessing resources of public-private mix for production of human vaccines and in-vitro diagnostics’ as it has left the “country missing out of rich medical data domicilled in this sector which ought to be used for health sector improvement”.
He stressed that “GMLD sees huge opportunity if resources from private and government sectors are harnessed to improve Nigeria’s healthcare services, especially in the area of human vaccines production and manufacture of in-vitro diagnostics.
“NHIS among other interventions, should urgently address the issues of direct selection of laboratories by enrollees, as currently being done under Covid-19 private laboratories network; of low capacity utilization of secondary healthcare providers such as stand-alone medical laboratory services.
“In this way, all registered and accredited healthcare provider laboratories and facilities will be integrated in the scheme as well help us scale up quality coverage of more Nigerians,” he said.
