Rivers
Lab Scientists Allege Discrimination, Honour Peterside
The Rivers State branch of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, has decried the seemingly discriminatory treatment in the State Civil Service where certain professions are given better treatment than the others.
The State Chairman of the association, Dr. Chris Mbata (JP) who made the remark over the weekend in Port Harcourt during the dinner night to end the 2012 Biomedical week and special award and reception in honour of Hon. Dakuku Peterside, said that health policy makers tend to undermine the medical scientists saying that there is no directorate of medical laboratory services at the State Ministry of Health, Hospitals Management Board, and Primary Healthcare Board.
Dr. Mbata said that in spite of the contributions of the profession in the state and medicine in particular, a lot of injustice had been meted to it like the conspicuous omission of medical laboratory scientists, technicians and assistants in the last employment of health workers in the Hospitals Management Board.
The association’s chairman called on the State Government to extend the gesture of the provision of cars to all medical doctors to be extended to other medical professionals, especially the senior ones, that have put many years in the service of the state.
In his remarks, the national chairman of the association, Dr. G.C. Okara, commended the State branch for moving the frontiers of the association to an enviable height saying that medical laboratory scientists provide over 70% of the empirically needed facts about diseases.
Dr. Okara, congratulated Hon. Dakuku Peterside on his award calling on him to continue to exhibit precision and accuracy in his endeavours in order to continue to make the association the envy of others.
Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the occasion, Chief (Hon.) Andrew Uchendu (MP) represented by Chief (Barr.) Vincent Uchendu, appreciated the role of the biomedical scientists in diagnosis and treatment of diseases, called for an enabling law to compel all to seek the diagnosis of the laboratory scientists before any form of treatment.
Chief (Hon.) Uchendu commended the versatility of Hon. Dakuku Peterside in handling issues and prayed that he would help to initiate laws will make the roles and values of the medical laboratory scientists to be properly recognised.
Hon. Dakuku Peterside, represented by Hon. Dr. Dawari George, was grateful to the association for honouring him, promising that he would continue to do his best for humanity and the association.