Kisumu County Deputy Governor Dr Mathews Owili has backed the newly established molecular laboratory at the County Referral Hospital to promote surveillance of public health concern diseases through multi-disease testing platforms.
Speaking during the launch of the testing platform recently, Owili noted that with the establishment of the new facility, Kisumu is moving closer towards the elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission, since it will bolster the capacity to deal with Viral Load (VL) and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) tests challenges
The laboratory ,he said, will not only test and monitor HIV cases but also other pathogens including COVID-19, TB, HPV, Hepatitis and future emerging diseases.
“Today, Kisumu county’s viral coverage is at 96.3 per cent and child transmission rates at 6 per cent,” he said.
Owili asserted that before the facility was established, the viral load and EID tests were only available at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Kisian, Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) in Eldoret and Walter Reed in Kericho.
He noted that with the new facility, the waiting of samples which took close to two weeks will be reduced.
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“The turnaround time will significantly reduce by 85 per cent since the facility is just here within Kisumu Central Business District (CBD),” he said.
He said the lab will relay results for Kisumu County Referral Hospital samples on the same day while for peripheral healthcare facilities on the network will receive results within 24-72 hours adding that the facility has the capacity to offer 2,000 tests per day.
“This is a remarkable development in advancing timely results for Kisumu citizens and beyond,” he said.
He further revealed that the county had trained medical laboratory officers, mentored and adequately equipped them with the knowledge and skills to undertake the testing.
By Fredrick Odiero
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