Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease in Ghana, Government has activated additional testing centres.
The centres are to help fast-track testing of samples picked from persons suspected to have been infected with COVID-19.
At the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) were the main centres used for testing samples collected.
The additional testing centres include the National Reference Lab – Korle Bu, VSD (Accra, Kpong Tamale) and the Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR.)
Currently, the country has a record of 636 confirmed cases, eight deaths, 17 recoveries.
Ten regions out of 16 have so recorded cases of COVID-19.
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research
The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) is a medical research centre which was set up in 1979 as a semi-autonomous institute of the university.
The medical research centre is the leading biomedical research facility in Ghana.
This centre is located on the University of Ghana, Legon campus.
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) located in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is focused on bringing both scientists and their ideas to conduct research in tropical disease.
As an international platform for biomedical research, KCCR’s modus operandi is based on the close collaboration between KNUST School of Medical Sciences (SMS), Ghana, and the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Germany.
National Public Health Reference Lab Korle Bu
This test centre is located in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Veterinary Services Department
There are two centres of the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) which are being used for enhanced testing. They are sited in Accra and Kpong-Tamale.
Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
The Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is mandated to pursue, among others, the implementation of government policies on scientific research and development, coordinate R&D activities in the CSIR and other S&T institutions nationwide and assist the government in the formulation of S&T policies for national development.
It is situated in the Greater Accra region.
It was established in its present form by NLC Decree 293 of 10th October 1968 and re-established by CSIR Act 521 of 26th November 1996. The Council, however, traces its ancestry to the erstwhile National Research Council (NRC), which was established by the Research Act 21 of August 1958, a little over a year after independence, to organize and co-ordinate scientific research in Ghana and provide the necessary platform for Ghana’s accelerated development.
