Eight West African Countries Sign MoU On Medical College

Ecowas Medical College

Eight West African countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the inauguration of Post Graduate College of Medical Laboratory Sciences.

The MoU, which was signed in Abuja, was part of efforts to strengthen medical diagnostic capacity, raise high skilled specialists medical laboratory scientists and enhance healthcare delivery system in the region.

The objective of the college includes the development, promotion, organization and conduct of post graduate education and training medical laboratory science and related disciplines in West Africa.

Inaugurating the steering board of the college, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the "regional meeting point of medical laboratory scientists is a worthy trend as it provided a platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience which will greatly enhance the standardization of the practice of medical laboratory science in West Africa.

"Furthermore, the idea of creating a platform for the formal acquisition of additional knowledge, attitude and skills in laboratory sciences is a welcome development. I hasten to state however, that the signing of the MoU and the inauguration of the framework and steering board are necessary part of the first steps towards the desired goal. The West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and the Assembly of Health Ministers of ECOWAS have, yet, significant roles to play for its final realization."

Speaking, the president of the National Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, Godswill Okara, said medical laboratory science provides over 70 per cent of the empirical data that constitutes the medical evidence in modern healthcare practice.

Okara charged medical laboratory scientists in the West African sub-region to subject themselves to continued formal and informal professional education.