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Inniss: Barbados becoming diagnostic lab capital
Medical lab technologist Kim Alleyne on the job yesterday in the new influenza laboratory at the Ladymeade Reference Unit. (Picture by Gregory Waldron.)
BARBADOS HAS BOOSTED its reputation as a diagnostic centre for diseases by opening an influenza laboratory capable of “final” tests.
And within the next year Barbados is expected to be able to conduct routine advanced diagnostic tests for tuberculosis, lymphomas and other health problems.
Minister of Health Donville Inniss made these disclosures yesterday during the formal opening of the lab.
“The establishment of this molecular testing suite for influenza marks a watershed moment in diagnostic laboratory services for Barbados,” he said.
According to Inniss, the DNA-related testing platform used by the lab at the Ladymeade Reference Unit off Jemmotts Lane in Bridgetown can be readily adapted to provide definitive tests for other viruses.
These include other seasonal influenza strains, novel influenza strains (like H5N1 bird flu) and other “potentially sinister viruses” such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), he reported.
“It is clear that Barbados is rapidly becoming the diagnostic laboratory capital of the English- speaking Caribbean.”
Senior Medical Officer of Health Dr Anton Best told the SATURDAY SUN afterwards: “This is a very significant accomplishment for Barbados . . . . It is going to mean that we rely less on CAREC [Caribbean Epidemiological Centre] whose resources are very strained and at the height of the impact of the [H1N1] pandemic in the Caribbean region we saw that.”
CAREC’s heavy case load delayed the time it took Barbados to get the results back, he recalled, noting that this would reduce the period to wait for results.
He said that within the next year Barbados would be able to do testing for tuberculosis, other sexually transmitted infections, lymphomas and leukaemias. (TY) (Nation News)