Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has asked private healthcare providers to improve on the quality of laboratory services to help the country check the disease burden.
The Commissioner in charge of Laboratory Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Susan Nabadda noted that when Covid-19 was at its peak, the ministry did not grant permission to most laboratories from private facilities due to quality issues.
While officiating at the launch of C-labs at International Hospital Kampala on May 10, Dr Nabadda said quality laboratory services are key to effective patient management, disease surveillance and epidemic investigation.
The C-labs is a modern laboratory facility that will offer basic and specialised services including tumour makers, hormonal tests, cardiac makers, viral makers, semen analysis, and sexual health screen tests among others.
“Do not remain basic, you won’t serve people effectively and efficiently. Well-functioning laboratories services lead to accurate diagnosis and timely treatment needed to save lives. You should embark on quality management system to have confidence that results are comparable to the international standards,” she said, adding; “We can’t do it all as government. We cherish to work in partnership with the private sector to serve the population, what is done in private hospitals must be commensurate with quality services.”
Dr Nabadda also urged private health service providers to follow the National Health Laboratory Services Policy and also conduct wellness testes for early detection and treatment of different health conditions.
The National Health Laboratory Services Policy provides a regulatory framework for ensuring that the health laboratory services in Uganda are standardized and controlled to adequately support effective and efficient delivery of the Uganda National Minimum Health Care Package (UNMHCP).
Uganda is a signatory of the World Health Organizations Maputo Declaration that called on governments to strengthen and support the laboratory system as a priority.
Speaking at the same event, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Medical Group, Mr Sukmeet Sandu said, “Our laboratory team is passionate and extremely driven about delivering quality and timely services. We have highly experienced pathologists and other specialist, all working collaboratively.”
The hospital’s general manager, Mr Joel Oroni said conditions innovations and quality management are key in service delivery.
The Chief Executive Officer of C-care International Ms Helene Echevin emphasized the importance of quality health services. She noted that C-lab Uganda operates in over 18 locations in Uganda using a state of the art equipment to perform over 4000 tests.
It is an internationally recognized diagnostic laboratory based in Mauritius.
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