Navrongo Research Centre sets up integrated surveillance system
The Navrongo Health Research Institute (NHRC) has fully operationalised its integrated surveillance system to continuously monitor diseases and help it respond appropriately in the advent of any pandemic or epidemic.
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The system, which had been in place since 2019, was set up in collaboration with other partners and it has been operational since 2021.
This enabled the centre to fully respond by assisting in the testing of samples from the Upper East and North-East regions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Head of the Biomedical Science Department of the NHRC,Dr Victor Asoala, disclosed this at a durbar organised by the centre for the chiefs of the Kassena Nankana and the Builsa areas last Friday.
Durbar
The durbar afforded the management of the NHRC the opportunity to interact directly with the community and also inform the chiefs of the various activities of the centre.
It was also used to share the outcome of some of the researches the NHRC had conducted within its operational areas.
Vector surveillance
Dr Asoala noted that per the new system, the centre will continuously pick samples and embark upon regular screening of the people to detect any virus likely to result in a pandemic.
“For instance, if we are able to detect yellow fever, we will be able to report quickly to the appropriate authorities to prepare adequately for any eventuality.
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“Additionally, we will conduct vector surveillance to detect likely vectors carrying viruses and if we screen the vectors and it is detected that they are carrying viruses, public health authorities will be alerted to put in place measures to curtail a likely pandemic.
The NHRC’s head of the Biomedical Science Department also indicated that if the centre had earlier embarked upon screening of the people and found the COVID-19 virus prior to the advent of the pandemic, the social scientists would have found out the way the virus interacted and stayed among infected people.
Ongoing trials
The Head of the Clinical Science Department, Dr Nana Akosua Ansah, noted that the centre was currently conducting trials on the COVID-19 and malaria vaccines which received overwhelming participation from the people in the area.
She said that due to the role out of the vaccine, they had to beef up the resources of the War Memorial Hospital by renovating the emergency ward of the facility and provided life-saving equipment.
Maternal care
The Head of the Social Science Department, Dr Raymond Aborigo, also indicated that the department was conducting a study dubbed “respectful maternity care” to look into how health providers were providing services to pregnant women.
He said that it was open secret that nurses go through a lot of stress on a daily basis due to the huge numbers of patients they attended to and “as a result, some nurses transfer the stress they go through to patients they are supposed to attend to.”
“What we are doing is thus to help nurses to deal with the stress they go through in the course of their work to enable them to offer the best of care to patients”.
The Director of the NHRC, Dr Patrick Odum Ansah, said the forum was very important as it enabled the centre to connect with communities and to solicit for their support in the discharge of their duties.
In a remark, the Paramount Chief of the Navrongo Traditional Area, Pe Asagpaare Aneakwoa Balinia Adda II, lauded the centre for its contribution towards improving the health of the people in the area and the nation at large.
Writer’s email: gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh