Dear Editor,

In a time when the country is under shock due to the presence of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the medical professionals are all on the front line.

The prime minister and minister of health have been highlighting the works of the doctors and the nurses. Yes, these are the people who deal directly with patients, but what about the medical technologists or the clinical laboratory scientists?

The med techs, as they are often called, are the medical professionals that deal directly with the body specimen. They are the ones who ultimately confirm or deny the presence of the COVID-19. They provide the diagnostic backbone of the medical field on a whole. Yet they go unrecognised.

Couple days ago, the minister of health announced the implementation of incentives to specific medical personnel and professionals associated with intimate contact with the COVID-19, and on that listing there was no medical technologist, the ones that actually handle the raw samples collected.

If these techs stopped working, how would these cases be confirmed?

There have been numerous instances when other medical professionals rely solely on the results produced by these techs, and yet they are forgotten. In a time like now, where diagnosis of the virus is crucial, this profession needs to be highlighted. These people work in the background and do so much with no expectation but to feel the joy in the participation of health care delivery.

I take this opportunity to thank all the medical technologists in Jamaica for their invaluable devotion to the advancement of health care, especially in a time when you are needed the most, and to let you all know that your service is as equally essential.

Anton Lloyd Irving

anton.irving8@gmail.com