sitemaster By MLS Silver Godwin
In Nigeria, it is now a norm that anyone that goes to the hospital or falls sick must be diagnosed with malaria. It must be malaria! is the mindset of an average medical personnel in this country. Their minds is so tied down, stick to one believe, whereas, a medical personnel is supposed to be open minded, expecting anything, perhaps new things to be the cause of an ill health. Some cases may present with similar symptoms to others, just like the case of Lassa fever that looks like malaria n typhoid. Must it be malaria? this is the question I keep asking. An analogy taken from the story of the heroic of Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and Ebola, the first doctor, before Dr Stella, that saw Mr Patrick Oliver Sawyer, a Liberian-American lawyer, diagnosed him of malaria whereas malaria was not the case. Malaria is not a personality otherwise it would have sued many to court and have them pay huge sum of money for damage as a way of compensation for tarnishing its image. It is true that we are in a malaria endemic world but that does not make it the only reason why someone will come down with fever. What pains me is when if you don't give the Doctor malaria result as he/she expects it means you are not proficient in your work in diagnosis. Also, littered everywhere are quacks made up of graduate from different courses, claiming and impersonating a Medical Laboratory Scientist giving out malaria result of all sort, some trying to meet the Doctors expectation n the others not even knowing what they see under the microscope, therefore counting White blood cells as Plasmodium falciparum. The patent store vendors are there, because they want to make money by selling drugs, they give malaria drug to any complain that comes to their desk, which resultant effect will be antimalarial resistance as there is an increased and increasing rate of antimalaria drug resistance in the world today. Truly, posterity will hold us responsible for the many damage we would cause.
A Medical Doctor is not qualified or licensed to carry out malaria test or any other test because he/she is not trained to do so. A Pharmacist, also a professional, is not qualified to carry out malaria test or any other test on you as an individual or your family as a whole. The nurse is also not qualified. Dieticians are not qualified either. Those qualified, because they are trained and licensed to do so are the "MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENTISTS" (MLS or Sct. in Short). MLS are the only qualified and licensed Medical professionals to carry out Medical Laboratory diagnostic procedure on any person or group of persons. I will also like us to know that Science Laboratory Technology (commonly known as SLT) is not the same as Medical Laboratory Science and as such a Science Laboratory Technologists (SLT) or whatever the title may be are also not the same as Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLS or Sct). Pleaes pay attention to know that Biochemists are not MLS, also Microbiologists are not MLS.
Get tested before you're treated. Get tested in a certified/approved Medical Laboratory and ensure the personnel attending to you are MLS/Sct. that is licensed. Let's help to save humanity from this heavy decadence in drug efficacy of all kind.
