The Western Regional Directorate of the Verterinary Services has presented the “Osagyefo Award” to Dr Ken Ugwu of the Global Services of Canada, for facilitating the construction and operationalisation of the Bio-Safety Laboratory Two and Three in the Greater Accra, Western and Northern regions.
The laboratories served a critical purpose for analytical diagnosis of disease transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also received a beautiful traditional smock for his meritorious service to the African Continent and Ghana in particular.
Dr Ugwu said: “I am a Nigerian, but I’ve lived in Ghana for several years. And when the opportunity came to do something for Africa, I chose Ghana; because we’re kind of neighbours anyway, so that we can try and build capacity in the region.”
He narrated how he was able to convince the authorities about the choice of Ghana for the project and “this is how come we built the labs in Accra, and then Takoradi and Tamale to ensure regional distribution. I am really happy we were able to do that.”
The Bio-Safety Lab Two and Three are highly sophisticated technical set-up able to handle and diagnose animal to human transmission of virus and other disease conditions.
Dr Ugwu commended the Canadian Government for financing the project, adding; “My background is engineering, so I helped them to design, construct and commission all the facilities.”
He noted that Ghana’s success story had further aided in the establishment of similar projects in Lagos and Sierra Leone.
Dr Simon Gbene, the Western Regional Director of the Verterinary Services, was grateful for the support and described the initiative as a real breakthrough in the medical and animal sciences.
He reiterated the contributions of the lab in the fight against the COVID -19 pandemic and entreated Ghanaians to continue to observe the protocols, particularly hand washing, to save the country from cholera and other viral or bacterial infections.
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