Guyana’s laboratory professionals have come a long way - PAHO Representative

Source: Guyana Chronicle, 24th April 2008

COUNTRY representative of Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), Dr. Kathleen Israel, has observed that Laboratory Professionals in Guyana have advanced to a much greater extent than the professionals in some other countries of the Caribbean.

She made this remark at the Sixth Annual Awards Ceremony in observance of National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week under the theme: ‘Delivering today’s results for a healthier tomorrow’, held last Tuesday evening at Bransville Apartments, Georgetown.

She commended the laboratory professionals on having a quality assurance programme, noting it can serve as a useful model for other professional groups.

&…quality underpins all professional work,” she posited.

Your emphasis on quality is what will help you to stand out as a professional group,” she noted.

Dr. Israel also lauded the professionals for their inclusiveness, managing to mobilise and coordinate both the public and private sectors.

She also underscored the value and importance of their work, although they perform their duties behind the scenes; and unlike the past, practitioners are dependant on the laboratory results before making a diagnosis.

The Director urged the experts to stay interested in their profession which is a very important part of the health system in many countries.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, addressing the gathering, reiterated the importance of accuracy in their analyses, and noted that doctors depend on them for accurate results of samples.

He encouraged the professionals to continue to study their work and elevate themselves to continue making a great contribution to the country, since theirs is an important responsibility.

Director of Laboratories and Acting Director of Standards and Technical Services, Ministry of Health, Ms. Yvette Irving, during a brief review of the 2007-2008 laboratory report, said although the past year was challenging at times, it was filled with many accomplishments which prove Guyana to be a leader in the Caribbean.

Irving pointed out that Guyanese will soon have access to a state-of-art public laboratory facility - the National Public Health Reference Laboratory - scheduled to be commissioned in August this year.

&…this promises to be one of the leading public health laboratories in the Caribbean,” she emphasised.

She said with this facility, diagnosis and monitoring will be done using highly specific molecular techniques with reference services offered among other public and private laboratories.

Also, she highlighted that Guyana has moved forward in a few important areas of medical laboratory, including quality assurance, and that certificate of medical laboratories in Guyana is now mandatory and not voluntary as earlier.

Another area is the medical laboratory professional certification and in this regard, the Ministry of Health has signed with the American Society for Clinical Pathology for international certification, including medical laboratory technologists and technicians, Irving said.

Another plus, she said, is the commissioning of a modern medical laboratory by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Medical Corps in February this year.

Irving also informed the gathering that the Health Ministry in March established a one-year training programme for medical lab technician in which selected individuals are trained to the medical laboratory technician level and then certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

addresses the shortage of trained testing laboratory personnel within our public service,” she posited.

Laboratory Adviser of the United States Centre for Disease Control (U.S CDC), Dr. Colin Roach, in brief remarks, alluded to the importance of this week, noting that it provides the opportunity to recognise their contribution to the overall health services.

He said, too, that National Laboratory Week has become a significant part of the health calendar in the country, and congratulated the laboratory professionals for their sterling contribution on diagnostics and monitoring of care and treatment in the health sector.

“Science has moved medicine from an empiric and anecdotal practice to one utilising the tools of evidence, critical thinking and analysis - core components of laboratory services,” he underscored.

He said, moreover, the delivery of laboratory services is essential to our health care system both for providing the foundations for clinical decisions and as an objective means to measure and monitor biological and environmental markers.

“…the time is now right for such capabilities to be developed in Guyana,” he emphasised.

Alluding to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, which will be made possible with financial and technical assistance from US CDC, he said it will provide the opportunity for continuing education for lab professionals, opportunities for research, mentoring, and general improvement and maintenance in the quality of services provided throughout Guyana.

&…in setting out its vision for laboratory services in Guyana; the ministry has articulated a system of levels of laboratory services interlocked in a network with the lab being the nucleus,” he explained.