MPharma presents rapid COVID-19 testing device to NMIMR
A Ghanaian pharmaceutical services company, MPharma, has presented a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing equipment to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) to boost its testing capacity.
Known as the potable monocular workstation, the equipment can test 15 samples at a time and was specifically acquired by the company for the institute.
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It would enable the institute to conduct real-time and on-the-spot testing in a process that takes about 30 minutes.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPharma, Mr Gregory Rockson, who presented the equipment, as well as some reagents and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to the institute in Accra yesterday, said the “equipment will help in the contact tracing process and reduce delays in the current testing process.”
Mr Rockson commended the institute for the work done, and pledged that MPharma would continue to support in equipping the staff of the institute.
Equipment is unique
The Director of the institute, Professor Abraham Kwabena Annan, who received the items, described the potable monocular workstation as unique, and the first of its kind to be presented to the institute.
“What we have in place at the institute now are sophisticated, specialised and multipurpose equipment and it’s difficult to move them. The process of moving them alone can cost about $25, 000,” he stated.
He, thus, said the donation was timely since the equipment would allow the institute to undertake more tests and reduce the cost of collecting, packaging and transporting the samples to testing locations.
Prof. Annan indicated that the equipment would be deployed when there was the need for rapid testing.
