STAKEHOLDERS in Nigeria’s health sector have advocated standardised management systems in the nation’s laboratories, including comparing results between labs and regular quality checks by independent bodies before such reports are released.
A UK-based biomedical scientist, virologist and infectious disease expert. Solomon Chollom, a doctor, and the founder of Love for Health Organisation (LHO), Yusuf Harun, also a doctor, stated this during an X space organised by The ICIR on Saturday, October 26, 2024, with the theme, “Why are there inconsistencies in Genotype/blood group tests results.
They both noted that inconsistent genotype and blood group testing in Nigerian laboratories was often driven by outdated equipment and a lack of quality control, posing a risk to patient safety.
They further emphasised the importance of improving testing accuracy through better training, reliable equipment, public sensitisation and adherence to global quality standards, aimed at bridging the gap in healthcare reliability for Nigerian patients.
Chollom noted that many laboratories in Nigeria lacked essential equipment, such as pH meters needed for precise solution measurement, resulting in unregulated and inconsistent performance despite the efforts of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria.
“I know the Medical Laboratory Science Council in Nigeria is doing a lot to have laboratories mainstream into standard practices by implementing laboratory management systems. And when that is in place, it comes up with policies that before you are able to perform any assay, you need to have standard operating procedures (SOP) just by the site.
“Periodically, you need to subscribe to what we call external quality assurance practices. The external quality assurance practices would give you access, wherein an independent body could send blind samples for you to do an analysis. And then the outcomes would be compared with other findings from other laboratories.” Chollom stated.
On his part, Haroun highlighted that while laboratory errors contributed to inconsistencies in testing, the transition from fetal to adult hemoglobin resulting from genetic mutations could also contribute to the inconsistencies.
He further stated that part of the measures public health institutions could take to ensure more accurate and reliable testing for the public is raising public awareness to ensure individuals are informed about their blood group and genotype.
“It is advisable that parents are counselled well, couples are counselled properly before marriage, and adults are also counselled.
“Young people are educated in schools. From primary schools, they should even start talking about blood groups. education, public awareness, and health sensitisation are very important in creating this type of awareness.” Haroun said.
A listener, who simply identified himself as Taiwo also suggested that implementing control measures was essential to ensuring accurate blood group and genotype results.
“The Nigerian system is such a system that even the cost of running those tests are far cheaper than the procedures the laboratory scientists are doing. So, sometimes, they want to do it and just get out of the result.” Taiwo noted.
The ICIR had reported how laboratory errors, improper storage or use of expired reagents and human discrepancies amongst others were the causes of inconsistent genotype/blood group testings.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org