Tribute to medical laboratory professionals

Laboratory Scientists in America will this week celebrate the Annual National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week with an emphasis on quality - both professional quality and the quality of care that laboratory professionals provide to patients and their physicians.

This year's theme is Quality Care from Quality Professionals. This lab week is a way to call attention to the largely "behind the scenes" work that goes on in many different kinds of laboratories ranging from those in hospitals and clinics to research teaching institutions.

Medical laboratory professionals meet the needs of the sick and injured and bring hope to patients and their loved ones. Doctors rely heavily on laboratory tests to make diagnoses thus laboratory professionals are critical components of the health care system, yet, despite the important roles that laboratory professionals play and the increasing demands for laboratory service, few people know much about the critical testing these professionals perform every day.

The role of technology has changed the profession and will continue to do so in the years ahead but at the heart of all this is a group of dedicated medical professionals, who understand full well that health care depends on laboratories staffed with quality professionals providing quality care.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the contributions of the dedicated men and women working in Maltese laboratories whose work helps detect and prevent disease, monitor treatment and save countless lives.