About 15 laboratory scientists from nine West African countries have graduated from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra.
This was after undergoing an eight-week training in modern laboratory technology to enable them to detect disease outbreaks.
It would also enable the diagnostic professionals to curtail and handle any future disease outbreaks and pandemics in their respective countries.
They formed the fifth batch of participants who have so far received the institute’s Third Country training course in enhancing laboratory skills for infectious diseases in West African countries.
It was organised with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ghana Office.
Significance
The Director of the institute, Prof. Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, said the training was crucial in meeting the global health agenda.
She, therefore, urged the graduates to let their work impact on the people in their respective countries.
A research fellow and Quality Manager at the Department of Parasitology at the institute, Dr Charles Quaye, said the areas for the training were chosen based on pertinent diseases in the West Africa region.
He said so far, the institute had trained about 70 people in high-earned diagnosis and had also embarked on field trips to participating countries to check on activities of trainees.
Strengthening capacity
A senior representative of JICA Ghana, Oda Ryotaro, said it had become imperative to continuously strengthen the capacity of laboratory workforces across the West African sub-region to enhance responses to public health emergencies in view of recent outbreak of diseases.
He expressed the hope that the participants would share the knowledge and skills gained with their colleagues to enhance their countries’ response to public health emergencies.
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