Liberia dedicates first-ever pathology laboratory
Monrovia, Liberia (PANA) - The John F. Kennedy (JFK) Memorial Hospital, Liberia’s largest referral health center, Wednesday dedicated a state-of-the-art pathology laboratory here, the first-ever in the West African nation.
The setting up of the laboratory, in collaboration with the Global Women Health group, will address the challenges associated with taking samples of specimen out of the country for testing to enable medical practitioners identify particular problems facing a patient.
The Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Dr. Jerry Brown, observed that the facility, which is the first of its kind in the country and built at a cost of US$250,000, would help Liberian pathologists respond to pathological problems in the health sector.
Dr. Brown noted that there were a number of medical problems that could not previously be attended to by Liberian doctors because of the absence of such diagnostic equipment in Liberia.
With the laboratory, cancer patients can now get diagnosed of the ailment and subsequently get help in the application of the proper medication for possible recovery, the health official assured, and thanked partners for the project.
In remarks, the director of Global Women Health, Ann Marie Beddoe, disclosed that the newly- established pathology laboratory was one of the most sophisticated in the West African region.
She stressed that the laboratory would not only be a diagnostic center for the hospital, but also a platform on which Liberia could record its burden of cancer through the Liberian National Cancer Registry.
Dr. Beddoe thanked the collaborating partners, who made the project a success. They included Mount Sinai, the Gordon Family in New York, American Society of Clinical Pathology, and the Liberian Cancer Society, amongst others.
"I am so proud to have been a part of this historic accomplishment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve Liberia," Dr. Beddoe said.
-0- PANA PTK/RA 30Oct2019
