The Medical Laboratory Science Students’ Association (MELSSA) of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho (UHAS), held its second Health Week Celebration under the theme “The Paradigm Shift; The Role of The Medical Laboratory Scientists”

Delivering a speech at a seminar to mark the celebration, Dr. Prince Amuzu Sokode, the Guest Speaker (the District Chief Executive of Akatsi North) who happens to be a Medical Laboratory Scientist by profession reiterated the fact that the standards, policies and practices of the Medical Laboratory Sciences must strictly be adhered to by all professionals. He asserted that Medical Laboratory Scientists are made for the Medical Laboratory services and no other health practitioner has the ability to play that role effectively. He however cautioned that the professionals must endeavor to deliver quality services and must be ready to engage in continual self-development to be abreast with current trends in the profession .

The Head of Department for Medical Laboratory Sciences in UHAS, Mr. Patrick Owiafe, gave the statistics of students’ population at the department. According to him, the total number of students reading the Medical Laboratory Sciences programme stands at 317 which forms about 55% of the total student population at the School of Allied Health Sciences in UHAS. He encouraged the students to take advantage of the numerous prospects the programme offers to reach higher heights. He informed the participants that 70% of patient diagnoses depends largely on the Medical Laboratory Scientist hence students must take their studies serious in order to be able to live up to expectation when granted the opportunity to practice.

In his welcome address, the President of MELSSA-UHAS, Mr. Mohammed Latif advised his colleague students to uphold the integrity of the medical laboratory profession.

Other activities to commemorate the celebration included: a publicity walk, inter-level quiz competition, a health screening exercise and a sports/cooking competition.