Buhari authorizes N950 million for the establishment of molecular laboratories at federal tertiary institutions

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Abuja, Nigeria (CU)_ President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized a N950 million intervention fund to set up molecular labs in all the federal tertiary institutions in the country. The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) announced the news over the weekend during the three-day special general meeting (SGM) hosted at the International Conference Center at University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Oyo State’s capital.

The statement was signed by Prof James Damen, the National President of the association, and Mr. Olusoji Billyrose, the National Publicity Secretary of the association, and they congratulated Buhari for sanctioning the intervention money. Damen revealed the message to the reporters and stated that the medical laboratory specialists were confident that the construction and equipping of molecular labs will significantly contribute to reducing the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious illnesses in the nation.

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The statement discussed vaccine production. It said, “The meeting assured Nigerians and the Nigerian government that as medical laboratory scientists, who are skilled in knowledge and techniques of vaccine production, we are ready to start the development and production of indigenous vaccines against the novel SARS-COV-2 and indeed all other infectious diseases. All we need is adequate funding and necessary laboratory infrastructure”. It added, “The meeting urged the Federal Government to inaugurate the Health Sector Reform Committee in order to enable the committee expedite action on its agenda of principally developing the implementation of a Health Sector Reform Programmes for Nigeria, in collaboration with the state governments.”

The medical laboratory researchers welcomed Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the newly appointed Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), on his appointment and advised him to avoid professional marginalization. They advised him to collaborate with all experts in the country’s interest in the joint effort to safeguard Nigerians from the effect of communicable illnesses by coordinating public health preparation, surveillance, laboratory, and response functions for all transmissible diseases.

The statement discussed in general about the possible future communicable diseases and the ways to contain them. It read, “The meeting agreed that infectious diseases will continue to emerge and re-emerge at national and subnational levels. As such, medical laboratories must continue to reinvent their policies and practices to effectively investigate outbreaks with the view to containing them early enough before they progress into pandemics and international calamities”.

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