The Health Community of West Africa (HCOWA), a healthcare organisation, has donated a fully automated glycated haemoglobin analyser machine to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) to enhance the management of diabetic patients. Glycated haemoglobin test is a venous blood test used to diagnose diabetes mellitus and monitor glucose levels in diabetic patients within a period of three to four months. The new high-level powered machine has the capacity to perform 60 advanced laboratory tests every hour, unlike the hospital's existing machine which does six tests per hour. This means that diabetic patients now had to spend relatively less time at the hospital. The equipment was handed over to the management of the hospital by the management of HCOWA through the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan at a brief ceremony at the hospital. Dr Eric Kofi Ngyedu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, joyfully said the machine would enable the hospital to increase the scope of its services and improve on the quality of care rendered. Diabetic patients would now spend very little time in the hospital when they visited, he added as he thanked the management of HCOWA for the gesture. 'We are very happy to receive this today especially when we are retooling our equipment- base in the institution,' he stated. 'We are opening new services, and we will soon unveil a number of facilities that the government has built for the hospital,' he added. Dr Edward Morpkorkpor Adela, a Laboratory Scientist with CCTH, reiterated the robustness and capabilities of the machine and reassured of their commitment to maintain it well to derive its maximum benefits. Madam Anna Jiang, the CEO of HCOWA, speaking through Mr Prince Opoku Dobgey, Marketing Manager of HCOWA, said the gesture was in line with the organisation's mission to improve health care delivery across West Africa. She acknowledged that government needed the support of the private sector in the health sector, hence, their partnership with CCTH to ad vance their cause. As part of the partnership, HCOWA will be the suppliers of glycated haemoglobin test reagents to the hospital. 'This is not going to end here. We will continue with the donation of medical equipment and upgrade laboratories and other facilities in some hospitals in Ghana,' she assured. The Regional Minister, Marigold Assan,for her part, expressed appreciation to HCOWA and appealed to other individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture. She observed that CCTH, a referral point serving people from across the country and beyond, was very often overwhelmed with cases and needed new equipment to aid its work. 'Government cannot do it all alone and so we need everybody on board so that we can ably deliver the best health care services to the people that we serve,' she added. Source: Ghana News Agency