Reference Lab for Cameroon, Central Africa Region Launched South West Cameroon

A laboratory that will serve as a reference centre to other laboratories in Cameroon and the Central Africa Region, dubbed the Global Health Systems Laboratory (GHSL) has been launched in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon. The official opening of this Lab took place recently in an event that brought together administrative officials, laboratories heads and personnel, directors of hospitals and clinics, Ministry of Public Health personnel, medical doctors, pharmacist and the local population.

Presiding over the launch, the representative of the Senior Divisional Officer for Fako lauded the initiative, underscoring its importance and timeliness.  “Global Health Systems Laboratory is coming to foster the quality of laboratory services, patient care, create employment and to facilitate laboratory networking. The government is ready to promote all initiatives that promote and reinforce the well-being of our population, especially at the time when it is taking all measures to protect Cameroonians and foreigners from the COVID-19 pandemic and other diseases,” he said.

On his part, the Founder of GHSL, Professor Patrick Njukeng, disclosed that the laboratory is coming to contribute in strengthening and stabilizing the health system of Cameroon, and the Central Africa Region, by extension. “It is our wish to partner with both public and private hospitals as well as research institutions in the health domain, and work together to foster health care delivery in Cameroon and beyond. We have developed various policies and procedure manuals to ensure quality, confidentiality, biosafety and biosecurity in the cause of our operations, and to remain compliant with various extant laws in the laboratory, environmental and physical domains,” he added.

In a presentation on the scope of GHSL, Pioneer Administrator, Mr Njumkeng Charles, noted that the new laboratory will support laboratories and clinics with specialized testing, foster laboratory network, support accredited laboratories to sustain their accreditation, develop and expand External Quality Assessment (EQA) in Cameroon and the Central Africa Region. “It will also serve as a support structure to laboratory training schools in Cameroon and beyond. The Bio-banking facilities of GHSL will help in the validation of test kits in country,” he added .

The launch of Global Health Systems Laboratory has been greeted with great joy and anticipation by laboratory personnel in Cameroon.  “Having a lab like this just next to me is laudable; we are going to do a lot as far as inter-laboratory comparison is concerned, and they will help us in carrying out External Quality Assessment (EQA).  We also look forward to sending some of our staff to GHSL to be trained  on techniques we have challenges in performing , so that if we have such  equipment we can be able to have the manpower ready for that,” Madam Nfor Loveline, Assistant Laboratory Coordinator at the Limbe Regional Hospital, attested.

To the Laboratory Supervisor of the Buea Regional Hospital, Madam Ayah Flora, the coming of GHSL is a dream come true to laboratories and patients as a whole.  “Many patients come with test requests from doctors, which we cannot run but when I look at GHSL’s tests list, I see many of them.  So, we will not need to send patients to Yaoundé or Douala to do tumor markers and other tests,” she said.

The launch culminated in a guided tour to the Molecular biology, Biobanking,  EQA, Immunoserology, Biochemistry, Bacteriology, Haematology and Parasitology units of the laboratory, during which administrative officials, medical personnel and the population at large had a much better understanding of the different services GHSL has to offer.

Registered as an arm of Global Health Systems Solutions, Limited, Global Health Systems Laboratory is the brain child of Global Health Systems Solutions (GHSS), an Organization that has been engaged in health systems strengthening and disease surveillance across Africa for the past over 10 years.