By Nana Achiaa Aboagye
It was in 2018 that the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), opened its doors to begin operations. Five years later, it is launching its 5th-anniversary celebrations and a fundraising event dedicated to supporting the Clinical Trials Unit. UGMC is proudly marking five years of providing exceptional healthcare and medical services to the community.
The University of Ghana Medical Centre is Ghana’s only quaternary medical facility with the mandate to provide high-end medical care, training, and research. A key pillar of its duties is to perform research to bring new treatments and medical devices to improve the health of Ghanaians and all who seek their services.
The Centre continues to leverage strategic collaborations to advance and promote quality healthcare, both nationally and globally, while committing to excellence in patient care, training, and research. The UGMC has embraced this challenge by creating the Medical and Scientific Research Centre (MSRC), which seeks to perform the necessary clinical trials to bring new treatments—local and foreign—to Ghanaians.
To achieve this goal, it has become necessary to have a state-of-the-art inpatient clinical trials unit (CTU) and clinical trials laboratories where the trials will be performed safely to international standards. The Chief Executive Officer at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, Mr. Darius Osei, said a modern CTU will enhance Ghana’s development in many ways.
He emphasised that most of the clinical trials for medicines are done in South Africa since we don’t have any in this subregion. He mentioned that most samples, by the time they get to South Africa, are not viable, but if they have a unit, they will have the opportunity to do their own clinical trials and take samples, which will help most drug manufacturers use the samples to manufacture medicines that are suitable for our environment.
He called on individuals, corporate bodies, and philanthropists to help raise funds for the Clinical Trials Unit. He said the clinical trials unit (CTU) would benefit Ghanaians.
An app called changoapp.com (http://changoapp.com/) was launched for donors to support the Clinical Trials Unit.
For the past five years, UGMC has made significant strides in establishing itself as a leading institution for world-class patient care, training, and research. Focusing on key areas, the Centre has been able to chalk up a number of successes, notably the settlement between the Government of Ghana and the University of Ghana on a mutually acceptable ownership structure.
The signing of a Commercial Agreement in June 2019 to activate Phase II triggered, among other activities, the signing of very important and necessary post-warranty service level agreements with a number of medical equipment vendors.
Increased infrastructural development, which includes the acquisition of an MRI machine and Angiogram, the construction of 8-unit apartments for clinical staff, the construction of a biohazard waste treatment building, the construction of a waste dumpster shed, the purchase of advanced equipment for the MTSC, and other specialised units.
The gradual building of our workforce from 130 in 2018 to our current staff strength of 1,300.
The scaling up of the number of specialist clinics from 3 to 40 specialist clinics and conducting several open-heart surgeries, brain surgeries, catheterizations for adults and children, and currently laparoscopic surgeries, MRI services, Dental services, Oncology ward, Neurosurgery /Neurology ward/ICU, Assisted Reproductive Technology Centre, Private ward, Paediatric Surgery, the setting up of the 2nd biggest Cardiothoracic Centre in Ghana, the Cardiac Catheterization Lab (Angiogram).
The establishment of the biggest simulation and training centre in West Africa. The Centre has so far trained over 1,500 health and non-health workers.
As an integral part of UGMC’s commitment to advancing medical research and innovation, the Clinical Trials Unit will play a vital role in conducting groundbreaking studies and ensuring the development of effective treatments and therapies to contribute to the growth and success of the clinical trials efforts, ultimately leading to improved healthcare outcomes for patients in Ghana and beyond.