Bloom Public Health and Katchey Laboratories Ltd. have officially unveiled a world-class diagnostic laboratory in Ogunu, Warri, Delta State, on Thursday, 7 April, 2022.
Christened Delta Plus Diagnostic Laboratory, the project was funded by the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and ND Western Limited and will be managed by Katchey Laboratories Ltd. Bloom Public Health provided all the technical support towards the actualisation of this project.
Diagnostics play a critical role in the detection, monitoring, control, and management of diseases, and providing timely and reliable results for various public health interventions. Unfortunately, the health systems in Nigeria and indeed across Africa are weak, with practically non-existent diagnostics infrastructure at the primary healthcare level. Access to quality-assured laboratory diagnosis remains suboptimal and undervalued because of factors ranging from limited human, financial and technical resources to poor laboratory evaluation and accreditation systems.
This limited access to diagnostics has dire consequences for Nigeria’s health system, leading to erroneous diagnosis, ineffective treatment, avoidable deaths, and an inability to determine the true prevalence of diseases. The critical need for a truly functional diagnostics system in Nigeria has been brought to full light by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
It is to address this crisis that Bloom Public Health Ltd, a public health think tank that is building its reputation as one of the most credible technical partners to health-related innovations within and outside Nigeria, has been at the forefront, strengthening and building capacity in both analytical and diagnostic laboratories across Africa.
Bloom Public Health has over the last few months channelled its expertise in providing technical assistance to various laboratories and institutions, and has recorded tremendous success, one of which is the establishment of Delta Plus Diagnostics.
The CEO of Bloom Public Health, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, stated that Bloom is excited to have partnered with internationally reputable companies; Katchey Laboratories, ND Western Limited, and IPPG in the establishment of this laboratory and its journey to NCDC optimisation, as each partner has contributed financial, technical, and human resources to achieve such an amazing outcome.
Delta Plus Diagnostics is designed to provide critical medical diagnostic services to the medical community, corporations, HMOs, and individuals in Delta and its neighbouring states.
Speaking at the event, the CEO of Katchey Company Limited and Managing Director of Katchey Laboratories Mrs Kate Isa, stated that Delta Plus Diagnostics will provide tremendous benefits to healthcare in Delta State by ensuring early diagnosis of disease conditions to achieve better treatment outcomes. She also stated that the university research community will benefit from easy access to world-class research equipment available in the laboratory.
Prof. Anyakora, also stated that their partnership with Katchey Laboratories, ND Western Limited, and IPPG is an outstanding model in health financing, and one to be emulated by other stakeholders in Nigeria's public health sector, particularly in the light of the recently concluded Primary Health Care Summit 2022, which focused on addressing the critical challenges confronting primary health care with a goal to transform healthcare in Nigeria at the grass-roots level.
He affirmed that such strategic partnerships can be deployed in addressing the critical shortage of diagnostics across Nigeria as a crucial element in implementing primary healthcare. He further stated that Bloom Public Health is looking forward to scaling its laboratory strengthening interventions across the continent.
[…] in collaboration with the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) decided to invest in the establishment of a molecular laboratory in Delta State, Nigeria. To achieve this, ND Western Limited, who, although having the financial resources, lacked the […]