South-West stakeholders call for more funding of laboratory research

Stakeholders in the laboratory profession have called on the Federal Government as well as state governors to put more funds into laboratory research works to stem the capital flight crisis the country is facing due to foreign medical trips by Nigerians.

The call was made during the celebration of the 2024 World Laboratory Day by the Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria (SoTLAN), from South-Western Nigeria, which was held in Lagos.

The gathering which was aimed at calling attention to the need for people to undergo laboratory testing, included stakeholders in the laboratory profession among whom were industrialists, laboratory workers and owners as well as students.

Part of the advocacy effort includes a live television interview programme named ‘Kutuhai’ on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), where the immediate past President of the Society of Testing Laboratory Analysts of Nigeria, Dr Femi Oyediran discussed the essence of the day about public health.

In his address at the event with the theme “The Future Is Lab,” which was held at the LCCI Conference Center in Lagos, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Ademilola Adebayo, congratulated the practitioners on the annual celebration, saying the future of public health depended on the laboratory of now and years to come, as there was no limit to innovation, scientific and technological breakthroughs.

He went further to say “frontiers of knowledge must be expanded for meaningful growth and development, In Nigeria however, the theme ‘Building The Culture of Testing For Healthy Living and Development’.

“The topic was chosen to address the peculiarity of our sovereign state, the culture of testing means continuously engaging in the conduct and observation of experiments and drawing valid conclusions, developing and sustaining this culture will lead to the production of good, safe and quality products that will meet the national standard.

“As testing laboratory professionals of over five decades, there is a need to build the culture of testing now than ever before, for people to live a healthy life and develop the nation.”

The body called for the urgent review of the practice by the regulatory agencies in the interest of Nigerians and the trade by curbing the unwholesome practice of what it called ‘third party testing,’ which is currently common in the country.

The President of SoTLAN, Prof. Olugbenga Ogunmoyela who was represented at the occasion by the first Vice President, Mr. Bolawa Gbolahan also advocated for the need to build a testing culture by Nigerians adding that the laboratories play a vital role in ensuring the quality and safety of products, safeguarding public health and fostering economic development.

He asked the federal and State governments to fund laboratory research to broaden the frontiers of public health and reduce capital flight in the medical industry.

“Together, let us strive to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities and continue driving progress in the field of analysis for public health and laboratory science in general.”

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