{"id":17178,"date":"2020-11-07T19:50:58","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T19:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=17178"},"modified":"2020-11-07T19:50:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T19:50:58","slug":"doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight","title":{"rendered":"Doctor’s self-funded test lab leads way in Somalia’s COVID fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Having scraped money together following medical studies abroad, Somali doctor Abdullahi Sheikdon Dini opened Mogadishu\u2019s first advanced diagnostic laboratory in January.<\/p>\n

Somali doctor Abdullahi Shekhdoon, the managing director of Medipark Diagnostics lab that runs tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), checks on a patient at the laboratory in Mogadishu, Somalia October 13, 2020. [Reuters]
\nIts arrival could hardly have been better timed because, just two months later, the coronavirus epidemic reached the Horn of Africa country.<\/p>\n

Since then Medipark Diagnostics, which he runs with five other doctors who pooled USD1 million to buy equipment, has become a linchpin of the country\u2019s creaking, donor-supported health infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Hospitals in the battle-scarred city that once had to wait weeks for blood test results now use the lab to test for conditions including HIV and hepatitis.<\/p>\n

But, as the Somali government has acknowledged, it is in the fight against COVID-19 that Medipark has made its most visible mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the supplies and our molecular pathologists were in touch with other pathologists doing COVID-19 tests in other countries,\u201d said Dini, 37, whose studies took him to India and China.<\/p>\n

Until July, Medipark was the only private lab in the city testing for the virus, but since then its technicians have trained government health workers to conduct tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were needed … and we were appreciated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Medipark has arranged import pipelines of reagents needed for tests, including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test used for COVID-19. It employs staff from Kenya, Lebanon and India to operate and maintain equipment imported from Europe, Asia and the United States.<\/p>\n

Somalia has been plagued by conflict since 1991, and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera are common.<\/p>\n

More than 2 million people do not have enough food. Many live in crowded, unsanitary camps, creating fears COVID-19 could scythe through a vulnerable population.<\/p>\n

So far, that hasn\u2019t happened. The health ministry has recorded 4,229 infections and 107 deaths in the pandemic though, with large swathes of the country are off limits due to the fighting, that is likely to be an undercount.<\/p>\n

Medipark lab is next to Hotel Shamo, where a 2009 bombing killed 19 people during a medical student graduation. Dini was there and the memories are still raw, but he and his fellow doctors are proud to be back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad to help my community and make a difference,\u201d said Ali Muse, who practised in Rwanda and South Sudan before returning two years ago to help open the lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: Having scraped money together following medical studies abroad, Somali doctor Abdullahi Sheikdon Dini opened Mogadishu\u2019s first advanced diagnostic laboratory in January. Somali doctor Abdullahi Shekhdoon, the managing director of Medipark Diagnostics lab that runs tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), checks on a patient at the laboratory in Mogadishu, Somalia October 13, 2020. [Reuters] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,2111,8],"tags":[6385,6383,6384],"class_list":["post-17178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-coronavirus-in-kenya","category-homepage-english","tag-covid-treatment","tag-dr-abdullahi-sheikdon","tag-medipark-diagnostics-lab"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor's self-funded test lab leads way in Somalia's COVID fight - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Having scraped money together following medical studies abroad, Somali doctor Abdullahi Sheikdon Dini opened Mogadishu\u2019s first\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor's self-funded test lab leads way in Somalia's COVID fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having scraped money together following medical studies abroad, Somali doctor Abdullahi Sheikdon Dini opened Mogadishu\u2019s first\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-07T19:50:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/wbql8ijkfgl5za5fa4e15ae7f3e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Doctor’s self-funded test lab leads way in Somalia’s COVID fight\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-07T19:50:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/wbql8ijkfgl5za5fa4e15ae7f3e.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"COVID Treatment\",\"Dr Abdullahi Sheikdon\",\"Medipark Diagnostics lab\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"Coronavirus in kenya\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/community\/doctors-self-funded-test-lab-leads-way-in-somalias-covid-fight\",\"name\":\"Doctor's self-funded test lab leads way in Somalia's COVID fight - 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