By Samira Larbie
Accra, July 12, GNA- The University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC) has launched its fifth-anniversary celebration with a call on corporate Ghana to support the establishment of its first-ever state-of-the-art in-patient Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) and clinical trials laboratories.
Dr Darius Osei, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UGMC, said this was an important project and if successful, would allow trials to be performed safely in Ghana to international standards.
A modern CTU would enhance Ghana’s development in many ways by ensuring that medications taken by Ghanaians for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer were suitable for the population.
He said there was no doubt that UGMC had successfully positioned itself at the forefront of healthcare excellence in Ghana and beyond, adding that, “A key pillar of this mandate is to perform research to bring new treatments and medical devices that will enhance the health of Ghanaians and the world at large”.
“The UGMC has embraced this challenge by creating the Medical and Scientific Research Centre (MSRC), which seeks to perform the necessary clinical trials and other research to bring new treatments–local and foreign to Ghanaians.
“To achieve this goal, there is an urgent need for a state-of-the-art in-patient Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) and clinical trials laboratories where the trials will be performed safely to international standards,” he said.
Dr Osei said it was the reason why the institution was taking advantage of its fifth-anniversary celebrations to raise funds to establish the first-ever CTU in West Africa.
The UGMC for the past five years, has made significant strides in establishing itself as a leading institution for world-class patient care, training, and research.
The CEO said the Centre over the period had chalked many successes notably: the settlement between the Government of Ghana and the University of Ghana on a mutually acceptable ownership structure, the signing of a Commercial Agreement to activate Phase II of the project, and increased infrastructural development which included the acquisition of an MRI machine and Angiogram.
He mentioned other investments made as the construction of eight-unit apartments for clinical staff, the construction of a biohazard waste treatment building, the construction of a waste dumpster shed, and the purchase of advanced equipment for the Medical Training Simulation Center and other specialized units.
It had gradually built its workforce from 130 in 2018 to the current staff strength of 1,300, scaling up its specialist clinics from an initial three to 40, and conducted several open-heart and brain surgeries, catheterizations for adults and children, and currently laparoscopic surgeries among others.
Dr Osei said through the UGMC’s focus on infrastructure development, specialised training programmes, cutting-edge research initiatives, strategic partnerships, and community engagement, it had transformed into a leading academic medical centre in Ghana.
He thus called on individuals and corporate organisations to support the initiative to enable the Center to continue to make contributions to quality health care in Ghana and Africa.
Professor George Kyei, the Director of Medical and Scientific Research at UGMC said when established, the CTU would enable Ghana to do scientific trials on herbal medicine and allow cancer patients undergoing treatment to do their trials and associated laboratory tests in the country since many cancer treatments were now personalised to the patient’s genetics.
Ghana and many African countries were currently missing out on these treatments, and a hospital-based CTU at UGMC, would fill this important gap while training the next generation of Ghanaian clinical trialists, he said.
Prof Kyei stated that there was an urgent need to train more personnel – doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and trial coordinators for the country, saying this is possible with a modern CTU at UGMC.
He said so far, a large space in the clinical building had been allocated for development into a modern trials laboratory, and a partnership secured with MDS-Lancet-Cerba, to support modern analyzers – (costing millions of dollars in investment), and about 1.5 million cedis raised so far to prepare the place for the analyzers.
“We now need to immediately prepare the allocated space to international (ISO) standards where machines can be placed as well as equip some rooms in the trials ward with modern machines and call for the support of everyone to make the initiative a success,” he added.
The event saw institutions such as Tobinco Pharmaceutical Company, Special Ice, East Legon Executives Club, and individuals pledging and making cash donations towards the establishment of the CTU.
GNA