MELPWU Renews Call for Medical Laboratory Science Council

By Maxwell Awumah

Ho, July 28, GNA – Dr. Cephas K. Akortor, General Secretary of Medical Laboratory Professional Workers’ Union (MELPWU) has renewed calls for a Medical Laboratory Science Council to guarantee direct representation on national regulatory bodies, standard-setting agencies, and key health policy-making platforms.

Speaking at the Fourth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Society of Medical Laboratory Managers (SMLM)-Ghana in Ho, Dr. Akortor said such a council would eliminate dependence on third-party advocates unfamiliar with the profession’s intricacies. It would also align Ghana with international best practices where independent councils—such as the UK’s Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Canada’s Medical Laboratory Professionals’ Association of Ontario (MLPAO)—regulate the field.

Dr. Akortor also advocated for the creation of Medical Laboratory Directorates at all healthcare levels, from CHPS compounds to CHAG institutions, the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and Teaching Hospitals. These directorates, he said, would serve as focal points for both managerial and regulatory competence.

The AGM was held under the theme: “Medical Laboratory Managers’ Involvement in the Core Management: A Necessity in Restructuring Healthcare Delivery in Ghana.”

He emphasised the need for laboratory managers to be institutionalized within hospital management structures, procurement boards, and planning teams, while also calling for the formal recognition of specialist qualifications in the regulatory and public service architecture.

“Behind every accurate diagnosis and informed clinical decision is a well-managed laboratory. Yet, our healthcare system continues to sideline the very professionals who uphold its core,” he lamented, adding that over 70% of clinical decisions are based on laboratory data.

Dr. Akortor questioned why laboratory departments—often major revenue generators for hospitals—are excluded from strategic decision-making, only to be blamed when systems falter.

He stressed that laboratory services are not auxiliary but central to healthcare delivery, and the demand for inclusion is a legal entitlement. He cited national and international frameworks, including: ILO Convention 111 (1958), ratified by Ghana in 1961, Ghana’s Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) – Sections 10, 13, and 97 anf GHS and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 (Act 525) – Sections 6(1)(h), 11, 12, and 48(2)(h).

“These legal provisions enshrine the rights of all health professionals, including medical laboratory scientists, to full representation in governance and leadership,” he noted. “Exclusion constitutes structural discrimination and must end.”

He called on members to work in unity with MELPWU, the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), and other stakeholders to assert their rightful place in Ghana’s health system.

“To policymakers and authorities, we say respectfully but firmly: we will no longer accept structural invisibility. The future of healthcare must be built on inclusion,” he declared. “Let this AGM spark a renewed spirit of advocacy and transformation. The time to act is now.”

Prof. Samuel Essien-Baidoo, President of the Ghana Chapter of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS), echoed the call for reform, saying the restructuring of Ghana’s health system must recognize the strategic, ethical, and legal competencies of medical laboratory managers.

Prof. Essien-Baidoo, also Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), said diagnostics must become the engine of a 24-hour healthcare model—ensuring timely diagnosis, emergency responsiveness, and continuity of care.

“At the heart of this model must be lab managers whose oversight ensures reliable and resilient diagnostic services around the clock,” he said.

GNA

Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Audrey Dekalu

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