Otumfuo Commissions KCCR Outbreak Preparedness Lab
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has commissioned the newly constructed outbreak preparedness laboratory of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR).
The laboratory, according to President Akufo-Addo, was born out of COVID-19 distress and in anticipation of future public outbreaks.
The newly constructed lab block on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) houses a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) laboratory, a Cold Room and 5 Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) laboratories.
A speech read on behalf of the President by the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, explained the laboratory has a “larger Biosafety Level 3 laboratory for processing dangerous organisms such as those causing COVID-19. The building is resourced with Biosafety level 2 laboratories to ensure fast processing samples and to provide space for training of our next generation of scientists.”
His Majesty commissioned the lab on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the KCCR on November 29, 2022.
The facility was commissioned along with the German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Daniel Krull, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Hon Simon Osei Mensah, Chairman of Council, Ambassador Nana Effah Apenteng, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof Rita Akosua Dickson, Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare.
Also were the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Francis Kasolo, Chair of Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Prof Juergen May, Director of Scientific Research at KCCR, Prof Richard Odame Philips and others.
The anniversary was celebrated under the theme: “25 Years Of Research for life: SUSTAINING GLOBAL HEALTH AND RESEARCH IN A CHANGING WORLD”.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
