Mr Yaw Kyei Konadu, a technician, taking officials through how the facility works

KATH gets centralised medicine cold room

Daniel Kenu Health May - 03 - 2021 , 08:36

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi has been presented with an internally centralised medicine cold room to promote the long-term storage of drugs, especially COVID-19 vaccines, maintain the appropriate temperature and ensure good health.

The localised "Central medical store" was built and handed over to KATH by the pharmaceutical company, Roche Ghana, last Tuesday as its contribution towards good health.

The Gh¢130,000, 54 cubic metre facility can store up to 3,000 kilogrammes of drugs with a temperature range of two to eight degrees celsius.

According to the CEO of KATH, Dr Oheneba Owusu Danso, the facility will be the main reference point for the supply of essential drugs to its various pharmacies to ensure good supervision and accountability.

Ethics

He said the facility would help maintain drugs at the appropriate temperature in the region.

"Apart from everything, this company is an ethical company which ensures that their reputation is maintained and drugs that they supply do not go bad," the CEO said.

The Country Manager of Roche Ghana, Dr Philip Anderson, said the presentation followed discussions with KATH on how best the company could contribute to safe drug delivery.

"Being one of the suppliers of essential drugs in Ghana, especially to KATH, we have a responsibility to keep the drugs safe and to maintain our reputation," he said.

Having assisted KATH with some fridges in the past to promote safe storage, the country manager said that could only serve as a short-term measure, hence the need to provide the permanent medicine cold room.

It took the company with its technical team a month to construct the cold room.

Roche has been at the forefront of cancer research and treatment for over 50 years, with medicines for breast, skin, colon, ovarian, lung and other cancers.