Alarm over rising cases of disease misdiagnosis
Medical laboratory officers have raised the red flag over the increased cases of misdiagnosis of diseases, blaming it on policies that allow unqualified staff to conduct tests on patients.
Speaking yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers (KNUMLO) secretary general Enock Wanyonyi said misdiagnosis cases are on the rise as most of the diagnosis work has been left to pharmacists and biology teachers while this should be left to lab technicians.
“How do you expect a person, who is only trained to do prescription to go to the lab and do tests which they don’t understand? Countries such as Cuba which we are seeking to emulate have succeeded only through proper diagnosis,” said Wanyonyi.
Lack capacity
According to the union, cases of misdiagnosis of malaria, Pylori and HIV are on the rise especially in Nairobi.
Wanyonyi said most functions have been assigned to the Pharmacists and Poisons Board (PPB) which does not have the capacity to handle it all.
“It’s sad that I see most Kenyans dying everyday while most of these could have been avoided if Ministry recognised us.
It’s even more worrying that patients across the 47 counties have been using renal dialysis machines and X-ray equipment that have not been certified to be free of medical risk,” he added.
