By: Amadu Wurie Timbo
Hon. Dr. Austin Demby the Minister of Health and Sanitationactively quarterbacked the ground-breaking event, thecommissioning of the well-constructed and equipped State-of-the-art Laboratory that gears towards ending the high infant and child mortality rate and other emergencies across Sierra Leone.
This was done all together with Her Worship Sunkarie KabbaKamara of the Makeni City Council, Paramount Chief Bai Shebora Kasangha II of Bombali Shebora Chiefdom, H.E. David Reimer- US Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Dr.Ikechukwu Ogbuanu, Director of Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) and a long list of others who happily met at the historic event hosted on Wednesday 21st July 2022, at the premises of the new lab attached to the Makeni Regional Government Hospital in Makeni, BombaliDistrict.
In his statement, Dr. Demby expressed appreciation to donorswhile stating that physical infrastructure, Health work force, drugs, adequate equipment and supplies are the essential ingredient with the ability to enhance quality primary healthcare delivery, believing that the State-of-the-art lab will be efficiently and accurately provide answers to the raining questions on early deaths of under-5 children and would as well help to do away with the bad record of mortality in Bombali District and the Country at large.
He further told journalist that, the newly commissionedlaboratory is fantastic. ”I called it a fantastic lab because, it is far equipped with scientific machines compares to any other Laboratory in the country. This lab can do a DNA test, microscopy, Biochemistry, haematology, histology,…and certainly, this will help our resilient healthcare workers to identify and provide solutions to causes of mortality with no sweat. Based on value, the new lab worth far more than any currency you can imagine”.
Dr. Ikechukwu Ogbuanu is the Director of CHAMPS who cheerfully expressed his excitement over the commissioning event of the new international-standard laboratory, living with the fact that, the new lab will efficiently contribute to upgrading the surveillance and diagnostic capacity in BombaliDistrict and its environs, copiously leaping to advance patient care in Sierra Leone, precisely in Bombali District where over 500 needless stillbirths and child deaths recorded in the singular year of 2021.
While extending regards to donors and partners, Dr.Ogbuanum reiterated that, the international state-of-the-art lab is not only limited to providing efficient patient care but would equally open new opportunities for capacity building at the graduate and post graduate levels for clinical students.
CHAMPS Director and key other representatives from partner institutions assured to continue working with the Governmentof Sierra Leone to ensure a better healthcare delivery in the country, whereas the minister, U.S Ambassador, CHAMPS Director, Makeni City Mayor, PC Kasangha-II and others took a tour in the Laboratory.
However, the Mayor, the Paramount Chiefs and other stakeholders hyped the event, affirming that, they would dynamically play their role as custodian of the land to letting the citizenry of Makeni and it neighbourhoods aware about the new status of the lab in Makeni and its corresponding effect toward healthcare delivery.
The multi-purpose Clinical laboratory has a General Laboratory room, Sample Processing room, Data room, Media Preparation room and few others containing Laboratory equipment, Biosafety Cabinets, Robots designed for Molecular and Microbiological testing, workstations, freezers and refrigerators.
The state-of-the-art Laboratory which was funded by the United States through the CDC Foundation is now the hub for all others in the country and providing a better workspace for CHAMPS and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) to carrying out accurate Surveillance and diagnostic testing.
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