The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lab

  • Association donates lab equipment, books to alma mater

    Association donates lab equipment, books to alma mater

    The set of 1971 to 1975 of Ibadan Grammar School Old Boys’ Association (IGSOSA) recently converged on the premises of their alma mater for two days in what could be described as an unprecedented re-union to mark 40 years of bidding their school farewell.

    A thanksgiving service was held at the school’s chapel on June 19, this year which was attended by the renowned principal for the set, Chief Ayo Labiyi and the teachers who thaught them various subjects which included Mr Idowu Adenuga (Chemistry), Prof. E.S. Ajibade (Yoruba), Dr Depo Fakunle (Agriculture), Mrs A.E Smith (Physics) and Deborah Bolaji Falade (English Studies and Fine Arts).

    The programme was followed by a cooktail. Classmates at home and in the Diaspora were nostalgic ýabout the good old days. The atmosphere was filled with great laughter and merriment as most of them remembered their escapades, bravery, naughtiness and craftiness.

    Some teachers were remembered, including their nicknames code names and esoteric slangs were freely used to refer to most of them.

    Some Senior Prefects, who attended the event were Mr Joseph Oyedoyin (aka) Oga Jossy andMr Kunle Osinowo.

    The reception programme followed at Emmanuel Alayande Hall and was presided over by Prof. C. Aworh; an old boy who praised the quality of organisation and presentation of the set.

    The chairman of steering committee for the programme, Dr Adebayo Gbadebo-Saba lamented the decay in the education sector within the last three decades and called on all stakeholders, especially the old stuýdents of schools to take a cue from what IGSOSA is doing.

    He paid glowing tributes to the principal and teachers who molded their lives during their days at the school.

    Quality desks and chairs that can conveniently accommodate 180 students as well as laboratory equipment and books were donated by the set to the school. They were received by the Principal, Mr Femi Adekunle.

    Tunde Lashabi, also an old student and current chairman, Nigeria Institution of Builders, proposed a toast and was cheered by other friends of the class, including Dr Tiri Oladimeji, Oloye Gbola Raaji, Jide Lawal, Kayode Adepeju and Mrs Omolara Yusuf.

    Other highlights of the programme included a lecture entitled “Education in Nigeria which was delivered by Dr Depo Fakunle and presentation of awards to the Principal and teachers.

    Speaking on behalf of recipients of the awards, Mrs A.E. Smith appreciated members of the set and thanked God for being able to impact positively on humanity.

    Addresing journalists after the event, Mr Idowu Adenuja, who had headed many high-brow public schools, expressed appreciation for the students’ gesture.

    He noted that Chemistry is the cutting edge of science, advising students to be serious with their studies as education is now highly competitive.

    About 40 members of the set aýttended the event with their spouses.

    The parting line was “God be with you till we meet like this again”

     

  • ‘Demand accurate lab test results’

    Nigerians have been urged to start demanding accurate and reliable test results from medical laboratories.

    Speaking in Abuja at the induction of new members of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSC), the Registrar and chief executive of the council, Prof Anthony Emeribe noted that accurate and reliable test results help save the life of the patient, while inaccurate ones could lead to death.

    He urged that people desist from walking into any facility and submitting themselves for investigation without asking questions as to whether the lab is approved or whether the personnel are licensed to perform such important investigations.

    “We must all accept responsibility for our health and this includes demanding as of right that the facility to which we are submitting ourselves is duly approved by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, that it is manned by the right calibre of personnel, and that it has the quality equipment, regents, kits, chemicals and consumables otherwise known as in-vitro diagnostics. That will go a long way in ensuring that the results emanating from such a facility can be relied upon,” he noted.

    Emeribe regretted that some patients, including the educated and well-off in the society, still continue to walk into any facility no matter how awkward-looking, how dirty and ill-equipped, simply because there is a signboard announcing that it is a “computerized laboratory”. “They won’t even bother to ask relevant questions in spite of warning signs that the place might not be fit for purpose,” he noted, adding that, “the quack medical laboratory scientist would not continue to operate once he starts receiving probing questions regarding the facility”. He said the law of supply and demand also applies in the delivery of medical laboratory services to the extent that the patients through their insistence on getting quality lab results can make the practice lucrative for the conscientious practitioners while helping to weed out the quacks and unserious by turning their back on such people.

    As part of the measures to sanitize the medical laboratory services sector, Emeribe said MLSCN had put in place a National Taskforce on Laboratory and In-vitro Diagnostics Inspection  team,  which according to him, will soon commence work to ensure compliance and flush out undesirable elements whose nefarious activities are hurting innocent citizens.

    “It can no longer be business as usual in the medical laboratory services sector as we are determined to do whatever is required to ensure that only approved facilities with the right calibre of personnel, equipment and kits or consumables continue to function. Facilities which have nothing to hide are often eager to get due approval and are also quick to display evidence of such for their patients to see unlike those, which should not be there in the first place,” he said while assuring citizens that Council will continue to work relentless to overcome any challenge militating against quality medical laboratory services delivery in the country.

    He urged the inductees to always abide by Council Code of Practice and Ethics and keep abreast of rapid developments in lab diagnosis and services through mandatory CPD required for annual licensure.

     

  • Lab technicians hail Ahmed’s health plan

    Lab technicians hail Ahmed’s health plan

    The Kwara State branch of the Association of Laboratory Technicians and Assistants of Nigeria (AMELTAN) have praised Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s administration for the renovating and remodelling five General Hospitals in Ilorin, Omu-Aran, Offa, Share and Kaiama.

    The general hospitals cover the three senatorial districts of the state.

    AMELTAN appealed to the state government to start paying call-duty allowance for their member’s working day and night in the state.

    AMELTAN also wants its members especially those working with the Community Health Insurance Scheme placed on permanent appointment.

    The state chair of AMELTAN, Elder Bandipo Olusanyan made the demand in Ilorin, the state capital at the association’s 3-days conference

    He equally sought for the recruitment and posting of “our members to local government health facilities in the state.

    Said he: “Apart from this, the state of art medical equipment purchase, improved staff welfare including prompt payment of salaries, payment of consolidated health salary structure, release of promotion and extension of community health insurance have endeared the governor to our heart.

    “The same gesture also extended to smaller health centres, Iwo Cottage Hospital, Omupo Cottage Hospital and Edidi Health Centre are part of good work executed to serve our people.

    “We also appreciate the state governor for the sustainable peace and harmony that provides the platform for us all to operate in Kwara state. The massive infrastructural provision and pace of development has helped our association to live up to expectation.”

  • SON’s N950m lab ready in Dec.

    The N950million new Standards Organisation of Nigeria’s (SON’s) laboratory complex being built in Ogba, Lagos, is expected to be ready in December, its Director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, has said.

    He spoke during the the Nigerian Standard Council’s (NSC’s) inspection of projects being undertaken by SON, in Lagos.

    The Chairman of the Council who led the delegates, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, said the Council is ready to back SON to implement its various initiatives aimed at ridding Nigeria of substandard and fake products.

    He commended the council’s management for what he described as the huge capability displayed and the determination to rid the country of substandard goods and services.

    He said the Council was committed to ensuring the training and retraining of the agency’s staff.

    He said going by what the team had seen, he believed Nigerians would soon start witnessing a new era, where imported goods would meet the standards required.

    Odumodu said the various initiatives embarked upon by the management since he became its helmsman, have resulted in the sharp reduction in the volume of substandard products in the country, adding that the pursuit of the agency’s zero tolerance for substandard products importation and distribution underlined the building of the various testing laboratories.

    He said much cooperation and support would be needed from the Council, if SON was to achieve the programmes highlighted.

    The Vice-Chairman of the Council and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Dauda Kigbu, said the team would pay similar visits to the agency’s zonal offices in other parts of the country, including Enugu,Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

    He assured the public that SON will not compromise on standards, stressing that whatever was needed to be done to ensure that the agency carried out its assignments diligently, would be done by the Council.

    At the Lagos office of SON, the Head of Operations in the state and Assistant Director, Mrs. Elsie Ofili, listed inadequate staff and logistics, as among other challenges, where assistance was expected.

    The new Council, saddled with ensuring that the agency’s activities are on track, was inaugurated in March, last year.