The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) is a Federal Government Statutory Regulatory Agency established by Act 11 of 2003 as a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Health. It also broadly charged the Council with the core responsibilities of regulating medical laboratory services through registration and licensing of medical laboratories as well as practitioners, mandatory inspection, mentoring for quality improvement, accreditation, monitoring and evaluation as well as certification of laboratory test kits and reagents. Furthermore, the Act empowers the Council to regulate the training of medical laboratory scientists, technicians and assistants.

With the benefit of hindsight, stakeholders in the field of medical laboratory services agree that, by enacting the MLSCN Act No.11, the Government proved to be alert to its environment and sensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian public most of whom had been calling for fresh statutory instruments and, therefore, greater impetus towards rejuvenating as well as regulating the sector. This, the stakeholders believe, would enable the sector to deliver on its mandate- regulation for quality medical laboratory services that are both fit for purpose and also in line with global best practices.