Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Capacity of reference laboratory to be boosted
– Director
The capabilities of the National Public Health Reference Institute to conduct advanced leptospirosis tests will soon become a reality, according to director of the institution, Dr Colin Roach.
The doctor’s disclosure came during a recent interview with this newspaper.
At the moment, he said, the laboratory has the capacity to carry out rapid testing to determine the presence of leptospirosis.
According to him, since the laboratory, which is located at the corner of New Market and Thomas Streets, opened its doors last year July, it had the capability to carry out the leptospirosis tests, but not to the desired extent.
Dr Colin Roach
“That function initially existed at the Georgetown Public Hospital, but with the transfer of the Bacteriology Department (to the laboratory), that department now comes under our Serology Department. Right now, we are doing basic rapid tests.” he related.
However, he disclosed that there are plans apace to expand the laboratory’s testing capabilities in the very near future.
Dr Roach pointed out that, with the introduction of the Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) Technology and other advanced testing methods, the laboratory will be well on its way to being fully on par with international facilities.
“We are hoping that with the approval of equipment for this facility, we will be having the capacity to do ELISA tests, which is a more specific test,” Dr Roach asserted.
The advanced technology allows for the testing of antibodies, and is a more controlled test than the commonly utilised rapid testing process.
With ELISA testing capabilities, laboratory technicians will be able to test for any strain of disease, or be able to make confirmations on any sample. However, the services of the Centre for Disease Control, in Atlanta, United States, will still be sought to detect the strain of a disease, such as leptospirosis, that may be detected in a sample.
Dr Roach further disclosed that, although the laboratory was intended to operate at an advanced level, most of the services offered are in fact not new, and include testings in the areas of Quality Assurance, Haematology, Tuberculosis, and Serology.
“The serology suite was already in existence at the Blood Bank, where HIV testing was done. Persons were already trained in HIV rapid testing. The bacteriology and TB suites were there, and persons were also trained by CAREC and CSIH prior to coming here. So most of the functions here are not exactly new functions, but we are hoping to move these functions to another level.”
He disclosed that the laboratory capabilities will be significantly boosted with the introduction of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid Pollymarase Chain Reaction (DNA PCR) equipment which will be procured by the Government through the Ministry of Health.
It is anticipated, Dr Roach disclosed, that the equipment will be here within another three months.
In the meantime, the laboratory has been able to establish a twining relationship with the North Carolina Laboratory in the United States, where staffers of the local lab will be able to gain firsthand experience of the operational ways of a First World laboratory, Dr Roach said.
And the training exercise, according to him, will commence as early as this month end.
Dr Roach disclosed that it is expected that he will be able to observe and do rotations in the DNA PCR Suite in North Carolina, while another staffer, Ms Cherry George, will be rotated in the TB Department, observing TB smears and cultures, and will learn of future diagnostic capacity.
“We are hoping that this collaboration will continue even after the twinning relationship; although, before it ends, we are hoping that all of the persons in the various departments can have an opportunity to see what happens at the North Carolina Lab.”
The collaboration comes as part of the laboratory’s relationship with the Association of Public Health Laboratories of the United States through the PEPFAR Programme, which also funded the construction of the local lab.
At the moment, the laboratory has about 20 staffers, most of whom garnered their qualifications at the University of Guyana, thus amplifying the need for additional training.
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