Be prepared to handle sudden increase in demand in infectious diseases – Prof. Dodoo to labs

Director-General of Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) Prof. Alexander Dodoo in a speech read on his behalf has asked laboratories to be prepared to handle sudden increases in demand in infectious diseases. According to him, developing quick, reliable, best-in-class diagnostic solutions across the infectious disease landscape to assist laboratories will ensure diagnostic capability.

He noted that “How do we achieve this?
This will not be achievable (possible) unless standards are adopted and implemented, example ISO 15189:2012 – Medical Laboratories – Requirement for quality and competence. In view of the importance, GSA and Ghana Health Science has adopted this as a national standards and we know that only few laboratories are have implementing it. GSA is ready to help any laboratory that is ready to implement it”.

According to Prof. Dodoo, “These standards are intended to ensure:
• Safety, quality and reliability/ dependability of services;
• Competence of service providers;
• Eliminate biases and impartiality;
• Promote and protect the economic interest of citizens and intended end-users.
Quality infrastructure of laboratory is key in the early detection of outbreaks in the health sector. This help in the combating various disease in the world, hence there is the emergency need for the various country to invest in this area by allocating a percentage of the nation income for that purpose”.

Read opening remarks by Prof. Alexander Dodoo during the 8th CelebrateLab West Africa Conference in Accra-Ghana on Wednesday April 20, 2022:

Honourable Minister
Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Warm greetings from Prof Alexander Dodoo, who is currently out of town on an equally important national assignment.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank the organizers for putting together such an important conference, dubbed “CelebrateLAB West Africa Conference 2022.”
This conference is expected to bring together medical laboratory and research professionals, academia, regulators, policymakers, and medical product manufacturers and suppliers from across the West African sub-region.

This year’s theme is: “Ensuring Diagnostic Capability and Vaccine Sufficiency as Panacea to West Africa” is very timely in the light of the lessons learned during COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for us in West Africa (and Africa largely).
The most difficult challenge in gaining global access to COVID vaccine was the need for a coordinated solution to control and contain the pandemic. There were coordinated multilateral actions to increase developing-country access to vaccines. This was not without challenges in many developing countries’ health-care systems.
Similarly, infectious diseases have always been difficult to control. Aside from vaccine challenges, other issues include a lack of adequately trained medical personnel and poor diagnostic solutions. Key challenges in ensuring vaccine availability for infectious diseases include cost, barriers to local production, logistics, and infrastructure.
It is critical that laboratories be prepared to handle sudden increases in demand in infectious diseases. Developing quick, reliable, best-in-class diagnostic solutions across the infectious disease landscape to assist laboratories will ensure diagnostic capability.
How do we achieve this?
This will not be achievable (possible) unless standards are adopted and implemented, example ISO 15189:2012 – Medical Laboratories – Requirement for quality and competence. In view of the importance, GSA and Ghana Health Science has adopted this as a national standards and we know that only few laboratories are have implementing it. GSA is ready to help any laboratory that is ready to implement it.

These standards are intended to ensure:
Safety, quality and reliability/ dependability of services;
Competence of service providers;
Eliminate biases and impartiality;
Promote and protect the economic interest of citizens and intended end-users.
Quality infrastructure of laboratory is key in the early detection of outbreaks in the health sector. This help in the combating various disease in the world, hence there is the emergency need for the various country to invest in this area by allocating a percentage of the nation income for that purpose.
I wish us all a fruitful discussion and an open exchange. I am hoping that the discussions at this conference will assist us in identifying all issues that will aid us in the fight against infectious diseases whiles improving the diagnostic capabilities in West Africa.
Thank you.