Skin cancer looms

-Health Ministry alarms

The National Laboratory Coordinator for the Incident Management System at the Ministry of Health in Monrovia has alarmed that Liberians could suffer widespread skin cancer after eradicating the Ebola Virus Disease.

“We’ll have serious outbreak of skin cancer because many of us did not use rightful measurement in purifying water that were used for hands and bodily washing. Again, I cannot blame our people; the government failed to provide the rightful information [on] the measurement; as result, everyone was doing his or her way,” explained Henry Kohar.

Kohar said during the peak of the outbreak here, Liberians abused several chemicals, including cholera, chorine and other substances as a means of  preventing the virus, but the uncontrollable usage could leave the entire country  with outbreak of skin cancer, if nothing were done immediately to curtail such practice.   

Speaking on Sunday at program marking the J-Singh Annual Scientific and Laboratory Discussion on 24th Street, Sinkor in Monrovia, he said government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare failed to provide rightful information about the usage of these substances as a result, Liberians were used self-prescribed measurements in purifying water that are applied on their skins.

However, Kohar told the gathering that the Liberian government is in close discussion with the Center for Disease Control or CDC to establish a regional office in the country that will have oversight in the sub region.

Also speaking at the forum, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of J-Singh Medical Laboratory, Mr. Jackie Singh, said the forum is intended to provide basic health education to the public.

He said it is time for Liberia to graduate from the ‘Sir Isaac Newton form of medical equipment’ to the digital age.

According to him, several African countries have graduated from the old medical practice and are fully digitalized now, noting that Liberia should not be suffering where its citizens cannot afford modern medications and treatment. 

He highlighted that the laboratory specializes in medical diagnostics, including sales of laboratory equipment.