The Ministry of Health yesterday received a US$4.4 million public health laboratory which it expects will become a national and regional centre of excellence for lab standards and research.

Named the National Public Health Institute and created with major funding from the PEPFAR (US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) project and inputs from the World Bank and the Clinton Foundation, the facility is said to be poised to “respond swiftly to any public health threat in the country,” according to Dr LaMar Hasbrouck, head of the local US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) office.

The opening of the lab, which has been on Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy’s agenda for several years with the sod turning at the site back in December 2004, was described as a proud day for Guyana by the minister as the facility would be making a difference in people’s lives.

And down the road, according to Dr Hasbrouck the lab would spawn a network of laboratories across the country through quality assurance and accreditation. He said that now that the lab, which is housed in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital, has opened its doors the diagnosis and management of conditions like anaemia, hepatitis, diabetes and high cholesterol will be based on information from Guyana’s context instead of some faraway country.

“When there is a suspected hazardous substance or infectious disease outbreak threatening communities it means that samples can be processed here, and the threat can be authenticated,” Dr Hasbrouck said. And when an infant is born with HIV they can be tested in weeks and not years thereby allowing an earlier diagnosis and the promise of life-saving therapy rather than facing the almost certain death before his/her second birthday.

Importantly, resistant strains of tuberculosis or HIV will no longer be hidden. Instead “we can test for these elusive bugs and make the necessary changes in medicines.”

However, for these things to become a reality, Dr Hasbrouck said, competent, trained people must be reaching into “every hood and adhering to best laboratory practices and procedures.”

But even though the ministry and its partners have been developing the framework for staff recruitment, training and development, the promise of having dedicated doctors, nurses and counselors providing exceptional patient care in accordance with the national guidelines is yet to be realised.

Dr Ramsammy said the lab is just another indication that the country’s health sector has turned its back on poor service and poor information being provided to citizens. The minister said that the country is in a different era and highlighted the provision of free health care in Guyana.

He said Guyana has come a long way from 1990 when the country was spending a mere US$6 per capita on health care to today when the government is spending US$78 per capita.

“For any country and more so for a poor country… this is an achievement that is commendable,” the minister said. But it is not enough to just provide the health services but also to ensure that all preventable diseases and deaths are prevented.

On another issue, the minister said that the country is now involved in a demographic health survey (DHS), funded by PEPFAR, which is the first such survey and it is being done so that there will be real information about health and risky behaviours by citizens.

He said that through a partnership they would ensure that the lab is staffed to provide good service and his ministry would ensure that all labs in Guyana work within a minimum framework of rules, providing informed services to people. He warned that the ministry would not be shy about enforcing the rules on this issue.

Dr Hasbrouck described the building as being modern in design with spacious consultation suites, breezeways, hooded benches and sophisticated in complexity (filtered water system, reliable power supply and air flow). The lab is being managed by Drs Colin Roach and Jagernauth Ragnauth.