Makerere to start testing Covid-19
Kampala- The Ministry of Health (MoH) yesterday revealed that it is in the final stages of accrediting Makerere University hospital laboratory to start testing coronavirus.
Makerere University Vice Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe last week said the university received 20,000 testing kits.
He said the university hospital, which lies a few metres from the campus main gate, was ready to conduct tests. “The Case Western Reserve University in the United States, through Prof Moses Joloba donated the testing kits for Covid-19 to Makerere and as soon as we get permission from the MOH, the university hospital will start testing coronavirus,” Prof Nawangwe said.
The Director General of Health Services at Health ministry, Dr Henry Mwebesa, yesterday said: “Their lab is promising. We are going to speed up the process of clearing them to start testing for Covid-19 as this will help to decentralise testing from Uganda Virus Research Institute(UVRI) alone.”
He added: “...they have the experts. It is just having the right equipment and kits. Apart from Makerere, other institutions like Gulu University and Infectious Diseases Institute have the capacity totest but they just do not have right equipment yet.”
At a moment, UVRI is the only laboratory in the country that is conducting Covid-19 tests.
Several private hospitals have asked government to involve them, but the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Aceng, said UVRI was still able to handle the current infection rates.
She, however, said in future if the institute is overwhelmed, government would invite other laboratories.
If Makerere University laboratory is permitted to test Covid-19, it will become the second institution in the country to test the disease. Initially, UVRI is able to test up to at least 1,500 cases daily.
Rapid kits
Meanwhile, Prof Nawangwe said Makerere is also developing rapid testing kits by a team led by Dr Misaki Wayengera, a researcher in the Department of Pathology at Makerere University’s College of Health Sciences.
The kits are expected to be ready by June. Prof Nawangwe said the kits will also lower the cost of testing which currently stands at $65.
“Diagnosis is a key strategy in pandemic control, enabling early detection of those infected and their isolation for treatment. In the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, diagnosis has been problematic due to the global scarcity of the existing WHO approved test kits,” Prof Nawangwe said. “...the testing time will be reduced from 4 -6 hours to 10-15 minutes and with these kits testing can even be conducted in any setting including rural areas where there are no laboratory facilities.”
