A Bill for an Act to establish a Medical Laboratories Council was passed in the House of Assembly on Tuesday October 25, 2022.
This new legislation will regulate the licensing and monitoring of medical laboratories to ensure medical labs meet international standards and can provide reliable, accurate information to those who use the services.
Minister of Health Hon. St Clair Prince said this is critical as there is an increase in the number of public and private labs; additionally, since lab results determine diagnosis and treatment, the quality of the labs must be of the highest standards.
“We know that a lab result is only as accurate as the quality of the lab system that provided it, this is important…. we never had any laws before to deal with these issues at that level,” Prince asserted.
The Health Minister said the passage of the Bill into law would ensure that tests are reliable and done under the most stringent measures, removing any doubt as to their accuracy.
“We should not have to be worried or uncertain about our test results or even about the laboratory itself, but if they remain unmonitored, unregulated, we will never be sure,” Prince said.
Currently Government has three (3) laboratories operational with another four (4) to come on stream soon and there are currently six (6) known private labs.