By SEKYEN WALSHAK
Poor access to reliable laboratory diagnosis could undermine efforts to tackle infertility, maternal and infant deaths and other reproductive health challenges in Nigeria, a University of Jos professor, Godwin Imade, has warned.
He gave the warning on Tuesday while delivering the university’s 132nd inaugural lecture, titled “Enhancing Research and Improving Quality Laboratory Services in Reproductive Health”.
Imade identified maternal and infant mortality, infertility, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and cervical cancer among the country’s major reproductive health challenges, stressing the need for reliable diagnostic services.
He said laboratory services were critical to identifying health conditions, guiding treatment and producing accurate research data.
“We need vital, accurate, precise and timely disease diagnoses for us to be healed when we are sick. And if you are doing research, you want to make sure your research data is accurate,” he said.
He noted that about 70 per cent of medical decisions depend on laboratory diagnosis, calling for policies to strengthen human and infrastructural capacity in Nigeria’s laboratory sector.
The professor also urged increased funding for research to encourage scientific innovation and improve reproductive healthcare.
In his opening remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Prof. Joshua Chollom, said the lecture was timely given Nigeria’s reproductive health challenges and the need to improve access to reliable diagnostic services.