The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kumah Aboagye says with the central region being recognized as the heart of Ghana’s education, the absence of a Covid-19 PCR Test Laboratory in the region was damning.
At a ceremony to commission the first Covid -19 PCR test laboratory in the Central Region on Wednesday, he reiterated government’s commitment towards combatting the Covid-19 pandemic and extended appreciation to partners who had supported government in that regard.
The facility which is situated at the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital becomes the 44th of such laboratories dotted across the country.
The PCR machine which will serve the entire region with rapid covid-19 test results was donated by Nalex Company Limited.
Dr. Kumah Aboagye indicated that anytime a project of such nature is being inaugurated there is always a behind fear and apprehension about the management and maintenance of the new equipment infrastructure. He therefore called for the proper maintenance of the facility.
“I wish to request the management of the hospital to take special interest of the center and to put in place a maintenance plan in other to ensure it functionality for a long time to come. FDA will be coming quite often to check and they will close you down if we don’t close you down”.
Though the center is a regional facility, Mr. Kumah Aboagye advised management of the hospital to explore other uses of the facility which can help generate some revenue in other to maintain the PCR.
Prior to the existence of such a facility in the region, the Regional Health Director, Dr Akosua Owusu Sarpong noted that, the challenges that characterized the transfer of suspected covid-19 specimens to other regions for testing were enormous.
“Even now, some of our samples are sent to other regions for testing and this had implications for cost and we were spending time in transportation. It also had implications for decision making because taking the specimen to and receiving the results delayed so it affected clinical decision making”. She added
She therefore expressed appreciation to the director general of the Ghana health service for the swift response in providing the PCR machine.
Some five hundred test kits were also donated to the facility by Nalex Company Limited with Dr. Anthony Kumah Aboagye announcing that the region was soon to receive a P3 laboratory which is a protective laboratory suitable for the handling of high-risk samples.
The region currently has 3,585 cases and 27 active cases.
Source: Akosua Akyebea Sackey/ATLFMNEWS
