irector for Preventive Services from the Ministry
of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr
Neema Rusibamayila
Located in Bagamoyo District in Coast Region the laboratory was
constructed three years ago but failed to operate as it had some cracks
in some of its spaces.
The construction of the laboratory which was funded by the Italian
Development Cooperation and the Italian National Institute for
Infectious Diseases in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare and the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) .
Briefing the Director for Preventive Services from the Ministry of
Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Neema
Rusibamayila and other guests who visited the laboratory in Bagamoyo at
the weekend, IHI Head of Laboratory Maximillian Mpina said when
completed the laboratory will be a great help to Tanzanians.
He was also attending IHI 10th anniversary in Bagamoyo. “Sending
samples to other countries like Kenya and South Africa when there is an
outbreak in the country is expensive and time consuming as well. So with
this laboratory it will take a few days to diagnose the samples,” Mpina
said.
Mpina noted that the main characteristics of the bio-safety
facility are specified as including having complete ceiling of the
building in which it has been installed, the constant negative pressure
in the working environment, and adherence to constant filtering of the
air coming out of that laboratory through high efficiency filters.
At a cost of 189,000 USD, the renovation will make the laboratory the best in East and Central Africa.
“World Bank has provided 100,000 USD to facilitate the maintenance
of the laboratory, IHI has raised 36,000 USD from its projects. So
50,000 USD more is needed to facilitate the repair of the laboratory,
which if things goes well is expected to start operating later this
year,” he said. “The laboratory will be jointly managed and run by
Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) and key institutions of the ministry. The
in-country expertise will facilitate the sustainability of the
laboratory through research projects and diagnostic services during
epidemics,” he said.
On her part, Dr Rusibamayila commended IHI for its efforts and contributions through research projects and diagnosis services.
She said upon completion the lab will also allow the establishment
of a collaborative network between health organisations, universities
and domestic and international laboratories of communicable diseases and
for prompt laboratory diagnosis for identifying pathogenic agents.
IHI General Director Prof Salim Abdulla said the country will be
assured of saving billions of shillings annually in medical laboratory
testing conducted abroad at high costs as many scientists and high-tech
laboratories are available in the country now.
“Bagamoyo is now firmly established as a world-class research
centre. I have been particularly proud to witness the transformation of
human capacity as young researchers have grown into independent
scientists,” he said
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