Embracing Technology in Lab Diagnostics is Essential – Prof. Audu

The Director of Research and Deputy Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Professor Rosemary Ajuma Audu, has emphasized the need for technology in laboratory diagnostics.

She stated this on Thursday at Lead City University’s 17th inaugural lecture.

The lecture, titled Challenges and Prospects of Laboratory Diagnostics in Africa: Disentangling the Puzzle, explored numerous problems confronting the growth of laboratory diagnostics in Nigeria and Africa.

Among the challenges outlined by Prof. Audu were a lack of RT-PCR machines, poor infrastructure, insufficient equipment, inadequate numbers of medical professionals, and an unreliable power supply.

To address these issues, she advocated embracing technology as the way forward in Africa.

She suggested that providing quality training for medical personnel within Nigeria and Africa, rather than sending them abroad, would help reduce brain drain in the health sector.

In an interview with EKO HOT BLOG, she offered several actionable recommendations:

“We need to come together as Africans to work as a network. African leaders should collaborate to define training needs.”

“Train biomedical engineers who can maintain medical equipment,” she said.

Emphasizing the need to embrace technology, she added, “We should adopt technology and innovative funding. The government needs to take the lead in this regard.”

She reflected on the impact of COVID-19, saying, “COVID-19 opened our eyes to leveraging technology at NIMR in developing test kits.”

“However, it is not being fully utilized because people don’t patronize locally manufactured products.”

She stressed the need for effective policymaking to advance laboratory diagnostics in Nigeria and Africa.

“We need policies that will help us improve in Africa. We have what it takes; we just need to utilize it,” she concluded.

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