By CHIOMA OBINNA

Experts have stressed the need to ensure that Nigerian laboratories conform with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard laboratory practice with a view to eliminating poor result outcomes.

The experts who spoke at a 3- day workshop/symposium organised by the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) branch of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) said laboratory results should not be different anywhere in the world if the standards applied are the same.

Director General, NIMR, Prof. Innocent Ujah, said there is also the need for strict monitoring and supervision of laboratories as well as regular training of the professionals in order to ensure that results produced from the laboratories is reproducible anywhere in the world.

According to Ujah: “Results are mostly different not because they professionals are different but because the capacity and capability are different. If the scientists are trained, they will be able to produce same results”.

The DG who explained that the workshop was designed to increase capability and capacity of NIMR laboratory scientists to detect pathological condition, harmonise clinical and research result documentation and reporting method for effective communication amongst stakeholders.

Speaking, Prof Afolabi Oluwadun, HOD, Microbiology and Chairman of Post Graduate Programme Committee, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, OOU, Ogun State, who stressed the need to equip Nigerian tertiary institutions to be able to train scientists so as to compete with their counterparts abroad noted that excellence and quality require meeting a set standard.

“Since the clinical laboratories are in position to advise the physician regrading proper antimicrobial therapy, it follows that they must maintain a high level of accuracy in testing procedures and a high degree of reproducibility of the results.”

Chairperson, AMLSN, Mrs Chinedum Oparaugo, said the symposium tagged; “Upgrading Standard Laboratory Practice with emphasis on WHO Clinical/Research Documentation and Reporting was also designed to scale up excellence in clinical and research laboratory practice using 12 components of WHO Quality System Essentials.