Public health laboratories honoured at inaugural award ceremony

May 02, 2019 News

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Twelve public sector laboratories and 16 individuals were honoured at the inaugural award ceremony for medical laboratory professionals organized by the Standards and Technical Services Department of the Public Health Ministry.
Laboratories operating at the Mabaruma, Suddie and West Demerara hospitals and the Diamond Diagnostic Centre were recognised for their contributions in the highly specialised field.
Other laboratories awarded function at Fort Wellington, New Amsterdam, Skeldon and Bartica hospitals. Those at Kamarang, Lethem and the Linden Hospital Complex [LHC] received accolades too.
Two of the individual honourees, Mrs. Arlette Inniss-Pearce and Ms. Rena Marks, gave a combined total of 71 years service to the field of laboratory. Marks, a medical technologist attached to the National Blood Transfusion Service [NBTS] has given 36 years’ dedicated service to the field.
Inniss-Pearce who specialises in haematology [a branch of medicine that deals with diseases of the blood

and blood-forming organs] and who also is head of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory [NPHRL], has devoted the past 35 years to the public sector.
Others awarded were Sharmella Ramaswar, Keizer Percy, Donessa Harry, Natasha Torres, Keon Kyte, Kenny Morris, Alicia Debideen, Vidya Outar, Nataline Seepersaud, Moya Williams, Alexis Pearson, Renuka Lall-Mahadeo and Nolan Hawke, the sole private sector honoree.
Organisers surprised Mrs. Joyce Whyte-Chin, National Coordinator, Medical Laboratory Services of the Public Health Ministry, with an award. When she addressed the gala dinner Saturday, Whyte-Chin reminded her audience that laboratory services are often “at the forefront of medical advances in any health system [whether] public or private.”
“One can predict the important role clinical laboratories play from testing, diagnosing, screening for maladies to provide efficacious treatment to patients. High-quality healthcare is not possible without

high-quality laboratory services,” Whyte-Chin said.
She said clinicians rely on lab results to have a 100 percent accuracy of what a patient might be suffering from. “In essence, they are asking the laboratory to help them take care of their patient,” she reminded.
Laboratory test results are needed across the entire continuum of healthcare including the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of diseases. Lab results are also often used for research purposes and are also a critical tool for outbreaks in any country.
Whyte-Chin said clinical laboratories are “sophisticated and complicated environments” and require sufficient space, light and infrastructure, specialised personnel and well-functioning and validated instruments and a robust supply chain.
“When a patient agrees to do a blood test, they do so with trust that their specimen will be treated carefully and seriously – that the lab specialist will quickly perform the correct testing so that an accurate and trustworthy result is provided to the clinician.”
“The result of a single blood test can change a life and it is of utmost importance that the laboratory is one that can be trusted and that it is provided in a timely manner,” Whyte-Chin counselled.
She said that while laboratory personnel will be less visible and anonymous to the public and even those attending health facilities, “we must recognise that the work they do is crucial to the correct detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases”.
“Laboratory services are therefore a core pillar in Guyana,” the National Coordinator said.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud who also addressed the inaugural ceremony said Guyana “owes a debt of gratitude” to lab professionals. Their work, Dr. Persaud said, is critical to demystifying “what is happening in the human body”.
“Their advice is also critical for fighting deadly diseases,” such as HIV/AIDS and other highly infectious agents, the CMO said, recalling the recent outbreak at the tunnel operated by the Manganese firm, GMI, at Matthew Ridge in Barima/Waini (Region One).
Two Chinese nationals died, and several others were hospitalised from what laboratory tests eventually diagnosed as histoplasmosis, or ‘cave disease’ a fungus found in the droppings of birds and bats in humid environments. The infection is caused by breathing in spores of the fungus, which if confined to the lungs, is not fatal, but can be deadly if it spreads throughout the body.
Dr. Persaud credited the work of lab specialists for the “quick response” at Matthew’s Ridge.
When she spoke on the behalf of Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, Deputy Regional Health Services (RHS) Director, Dr Fiona Perry, lauded the work of lab specialists in the fight against diseases and forecast that their services shall soon soar nationally.
The inaugural Award Ceremony and Dinner held at Parc Rayne, Houston, on the East Bank corridor, included some engaging cultural items and drew the curtains on activities for International Laboratory Week.

 

 

 

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