Animal health laboratories across Ghana are set to benefit from improved disease surveillance, diagnostics, and epidemic preparedness following the handover of laboratory equipment, consumables and reagents.

The United States government presented the items through the EpiC Ghana Global Health Security (GHS) project being financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The items were presented to the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) yesterday, as part of efforts to strengthen Ghana’s animal health system responses under the One Health agenda.

The project is being implemented by Family Health International (FHI 360) with funding from the US government.

Items, beneficiaries

The donation includes critical laboratory tools such as densitometers, incubators, microscopes, analytical balances, water distillation plants, refrigerators and freezers, pH meters, and PCR-related materials.

Alongside these are consumables and reagents, including blood agar, Gram stain kits, ethanol, MacConkey and Mueller Hinton agar, and bacterial reference strains such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Also provided were essential lab support items such as test tubes, pipettes, Petri dishes, PPE (including nose masks, hair nets, and shoe covers), as well as freezer alarms and biohazard disposal materials.

The 10 beneficiary regions include Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western, Volta, Eastern, Bono, Bono East, Northern, Upper East, and Upper West. 

Present at the event were representatives from key One Health stakeholders, including the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, among others.

Benefit

The Project Director and Country Representative of FHI 360, Trudi Nunoo, who handed over the items, said the equipment would help improve diagnostics, detect outbreaks early, and enhance Ghana’s capacity to respond more effectively to animal health threats.

“We want to ensure they are not just received but used to full capacity,” she noted.

Mrs Nunoo said the project would also support the training of laboratory technicians to ensure proper handling and use of the donated equipment.

Timely gesture

Receiving the donation, the Chief Veterinary Officer of VSD, Dr Emmanuel Cudjoe, pledged that the equipment would be properly used and maintained.

“We’ll take good care of them.

And the results they produce will be documented and shared to demonstrate that all investments made into strengthening animal health systems are yielding results,” he said.

ubsequently, Dr Cudjoe called for stronger laboratory systems and more accreditation.

Currently, Ghana has only one accredited veterinary lab, the National Food Safety Lab.

“But I assure you that in five years, we will not have only one," he said.

Also, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD), Dr Edward Fenteng-Danso, described the gesture as timely and essential.

“The good news is that this donation is going to all 10 regions we are working with.

This is a good gesture, and we must ensure the equipment is not left idle.

We should justify this investment by increasing efficiency and output in our labs," he said.