More unlicensed diagnostic centres closed down in Kumasi

Five more diagnostic centres have been shut down in a special operation to clamp down on unlicensed health facilities in Kumasi in the Ashanti region by the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA).

They were Focus Medical Diagnostic Centre, Osbon Diagnostics, MSL Laboratory and Scan Center, Amedilab and Mediscience Laboratory.

Four of such facilities including; a clinic were closed down by a combined team of officials from HeFRA and the Police, bringing to nine, the number of facilities closed down during the two-day exercise.

Apart from the facilities that were not licensed, most of the personnel also did not have the requisite qualifications to attend to clients.

Their operations, according to HeFRA, posed a health threat to the unsuspecting public and must not be allowed to continue unchecked.

Dr Philip Bannor, the Registrar of HeFRA who led the operation, told the media that general safety of the public must not be compromised for the economic benefit of a few people.

He said HeFRA would continue to enforce compliance and that the Agency was not interested in collapsing the businesses of defaulters, but whipping them in line to do the right thing as responsible entities.

"We are not doing this because we have some interest in closing some people's business.

We want to see more private participation in the healthcare sector but at same time we want to ensure adherence to quality and standards", he emphasized.

He said the exercise was essentially aimed at protecting the public from patronizing services of unlicensed facilities whose operations posed serious danger to the health of their clients.

He entreated the public to look out for the accreditation of HeFRA in every health facility they patronized as a way of avoiding the services of quacks and unlicensed facilities.

---GNA