Agency The Federal Government, through the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, has inducted 396 foreign-trained Medical Laboratory Science graduates. Speaking during the 11th induction and oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa, said this would curb medical tourism and boost the health sector Represented by the Senior Technical Assistant to the Minister, Dr Obi Ugbo, explained that the induction was a crucial step in the efforts of the government to ramp up the training and recruitment of competent, skilled, and versatile manpower for the health sector. He said, “Suffice it to say that the Federal Government is in a hurry to reposition the health sector to bring it at par with its peers in other countries, especially those we often seek to benchmark.
“The narrative that we spend over 2 billion dollars out of our meagre foreign reserves on health tourism is neither acceptable nor sustainable. “Therefore, all hands must be on deck to ensure a better narrative and outcome for the health sector.’’ According to Alausa, the process is in line with international best practices, adding, “It is more gratifying that you do not merely induct new entrants into your profession because they trained abroad, but rightly subject them to a re-training programme and subsequent examinations in-country.
“Even other more advanced health systems subject those who trained abroad to new rigorous learnin.