THE Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) was issued license to operate as the first testing laboratory for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
This, as the Department of Health (DOH)-Central Office has accredited CRMC to perform rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests using the GeneXpert machine that was also used for testing of TB (Tuberculosis).
“We are using Xpert Xpress Sars-CoV-2, an FDA-approved RT-PCR testing kit, an acceptable confirmatory testing for SARS-CoV-2 and it can run the test in 45 minutes,” Dr. Helen Yambao, CRMC chief of hospital, said Wednesday, May 20.
Yambao said the hospital’s “Department of Pathology has successfully complied with all the requirements to become a licensed independent hospital-based Covid-19 Testing sub-national Laboratory.”
She underscored that CRMC was inspected by DOH Central Office through the Health Facilities Services and Regulatory Bureau (HFSRB), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), World Health Organization (WHO), and DOH-Soccksargen Regulation, Licensing, and Enforcement Division (RLED).
Yambao expressed her gratitude to the Barmm for the P14.1 million fund it provided for the procurement and upgrading of medical and laboratory supplies to carry out diagnostic testing for Covid-19.
Barmm Chief Minister Ahod Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said they remain to be a partner with health institutions, and is looking forward to expand assistance to other areas in the region.
“We congratulate the CRMC on their recent accreditation as a sub-national testing laboratory for Covid-19. This development will greatly help the Bangsamoro and Region 12 as we adopt the national strategy of D.I.T.R or detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate,” Ebrahim said. (SunStar Zamboanga)