Otumfuo: Impact of COVID Would Have Been Worse Without KCCR
The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has asserted that the impact of the covid -19 pandemic would have been dire without the existence of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) in 2020.
The Asantehene said this during the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the KCCR.
Acknowledging the contribution of the research centre during the covid era, the Asantehene indicated that the government’s responses to the pandemic were informed by data from the KCCR and other research centres in the country.
“It is so obvious that the impact of COVID-19 would have been worse if such a centre was not situated in the Ashanti region and at the University”.
He added, “We applaud the centre for the fantastic performance in response to recent disease outbreaks with the focus to work with the Ministry of Health and other relevant stakeholders to improve health care for Ghanaians.
“KCCR played a crucial role in the Ashanti region and its surrounding regions providing testing to guide clinical decisions, technical support to laboratories and data to inform critical decisions by the health sector. Indeed the contributions of this centre will be marked in history books and looked back upon by generations in many years to come.”
The Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof Rita Akosua Dickson, recollected that “the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on KCCR’s activities and KNUST scientists working at KCCR rose to the occasion making profound contributions towards the COVID-19 control strategy in the country. As a key partner of the Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health, KCCR scientists established COVID-19 testing centres to support national efforts.”
For her, the contribution of KCCR during the days of COVID-19 cannot be overemphasised.
According to the Chair of Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Prof Juergen May, KCCR processed 150,000 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests during the covid pandemic.
The centre gained so much recognition as the second largest laboratory providing COVID-19 tests for 13 out of 16 regions in the country, the Vice Chancellor indicated.
The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) is a joint venture between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Ghana and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Germany.
It was established on 28th October 1997, following the signing of a State agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the Free and Hanseatic State of Hamburg, Germany. The President of Ghana at the time, H.E. Jerry John Rawlings and the Chancellor of KNUST at the time, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, the Asantehene, provided approval for its establishment.
At its forty-seventh sitting on 30th March 1999, the Parliament of Ghana further approved its establishment and associated statutes governing its operation.
During the days of COVID-19 in Ghana, the KCCR supplemented the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in testing.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
