The Regional Director of Health Services of the Upper East Region, Dr. Winfred Ofosu paid a fleeting visit to the Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) on 2nd April 2020 to assess facilities of the Centre in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic which is proving to be deadly in many countries, including Ghana.
Dr. Winfred Ofosu was conducted round by the Director of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, Dr. Abraham Oduro to see the Centre’s clinical laboratory, which is comprised of; a parasitology, clinical safety, microbiology and a medical entomology sections that have the capacity to undertake biomedical research and support clinical interventions. Dr. Ofosu was shown some critical equipment including a new Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine, which has been ordered for use in the clinical research laboratory for a broad variety of applications including biomedical research.
According to Dr. Oduro, with the appropriate training and the provision of the necessary reagents, the Centre’s clinical laboratory would be in the position to conduct the test for suspected cases of Covid-19. He indicated that the Centre was yet to procure additional furniture and other components from Accra for the installation of the PCR but due to the lockdown imposed on Greater Accra and Kumasi in the wake of the pandemic, the Centre was unable to complete the installation but has evacuated its clinical laboratory to enable the use of that place for the installation so testing can be done there.
At the clinical trials centre, which is equipped with consulting, phlebotomy, withholding wards and a laboratory among others, Dr. Oduro explained that the place is constructed for phase I and other clinical trials. He further explained that at its current state, the facility can be used as an isolation and potential treatment centre for some cases that may be diagnosed positive for Covid-19 virus in the region.
At the end of the tour, Dr. Wilfred Ofosu expressed satisfaction with the facilities at the centre and the level of preparedness by management of the Centre to assist during these critical times and promised to hold further discussions with Dr. Abraham Oduro and his team on how best the regional health directorate and sub-committee on Covid-19 in the region could tap into the facilities and human resource of the Centre to support the national fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana.
Other staff of the Centre who assisting in conduction the Regional Director round included, Mrs. Andriana Sumboh, Administrator, Dr. Patrick Ansah, Head of the Clinical Science Department and Dr. Thomas Anyorigiya, Assistant Head of the Biomedical Science Department. The rest were, Mr Sylvester Dassah, Laboratory Manager and Mr Francis Broni, a Biomedical Scientist.