The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana has taken delivery of some rapid test kits, a donation from Omnifert in support of the fight against COVID-19.
Omnifert (Omini Speciality Products) is a wholly indigenous Ghanaian-owned company based in Accra that focuses on improving the crop production of Africa by providing affordable fertilisers to farmers, and presented 10,000 pieces of rapid test kits, 5,000 nose masks and 10 temperature guns to the institute.
Presenting the items, Managing Director of the company Michael Zomelo said the donation is part of their contribution to fight COVID-19, and also assist the institute to facilitate its rapid testing programme. He appreciated management and other officials of Noguchi for their good work in the fight against the pandemic and managing it.
“COVID-19 has come to stay, and it is everybody’s responsibility to help fight it. The good thing about Ghana is that even though we have some infections, our recovery rate has been fantastic and the death rate has been very low. In this regime, we need to continue assisting in whatever way we can to help fight the COVID-19 challenge.
“We, as a company, want to be known for our contribution in this fight; so, in our little way we know that rapid testing kits are going to be very important for the next stage of the COVID-19 fight. The airports, schools are going to re-open, and there is a need for Noguchi to lead West Africa in rapid testing as we move to our next strategy to stop or manage the epidemic,” he stated.
Receiving the items, Director of the institute, Professor Abraham Kwabena Anang, acknowledged the company for its kind gesture – adding that the test kits will undergo evaluation, pass, and contribute massively to the COVID-19 response and fight against this pandemic. “The thought, the effort to bring in the RDTs is a wonderful idea,” he commended.
He said the temperature guns will be very helpful because they are actually inadequate in quantity at the institute, and appealed for corporate institutions and organisations to support them with more.
