IFCC in partnership with Labs Are Vital initiative

Clinical laboratory professionals worldwide are coming together in support of an initiative to raise international awareness of the role played by clinical laboratory professionals in health care and their vital contribution to improve patient outcomes. Through a program called Labs Are Vital, sponsored by US health care major Abbott Laboratories, the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) and its 76 national societies are working together to elevate the role of laboratory professionals and to address issues facing the profession globally.

"As the focus on disease management continues to grow in importance, the role of early diagnosis and highly trained clinical lab professionals becomes evermore essential to global health care," said Jocelyn Hicks, the IFCC's president, adding: "Labs Are Vital is an initiative that seeks to provide these professionals a greater presence within the global health care system while educating consumers about the critical role of the clinical lab to their health."

The IFCC has joined Abbott in a commitment to support new initiatives designed to improve clinical and economic outcomes for patients by enhancing the role laboratories and laboratorians play in the delivery of health care. The first step in this process is to highlight the vital - but often underappreciated - role laboratorians currently play in the delivery of care.