The University of Health an Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Sokode, near Ho, the Volta Regional Capital will soon have the biggest and most resourced multipurpose laboratory in the entire West African region.
The laboratory which is expected to be completed in a few months will have 12 main facilities capable of undertaking all kinds of health and allied science experiments and research as far as teaching and learning is concerned.
Thus, it will have specialized laboratories dedicated to specific areas like Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiotherapy, Molecular Biology among others.
Each of the 12 sub labs is expected to take a minimum of 100 students each apart from smaller specialized laboratories dedicated to masters and PhD studies.
The three-storey facility will also have a basement, offices for staff, cafeteria, library, IT laboratory and a museum.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, made the revelation when the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education Prof. Kwesi Yankah undertook a familiarization tour of the University .
It will be an environmentally friendly facility which will treats its waste water for the use of landscaping among other environmentally sustainable initiatives.
“It will be the biggest laboratory in West Africa and one of a kind. We hope that the ground floor will soon be completed for use, while work continues to complete the other floors,” Prof Gyapong hinted.
The facility when completed will go a long way to consolidate UHAS gains of being a foremost health training institution in the entire African subregion.
The laboratory will also complement and make a good case towards the University’s goal of constructing its Institute of Health Research (IHR) to carry out cutting edge research and clinical trials for the benefit of Ghana, Africa and the world.
Currently ranked as the 12th university in Ghana by the Ranking Web of Universities (Webometrics), UHAS which is in its ninth year has also instituted a Research Fund which has disbursed Ghc214.000 to fund 15 applications after the first call while the 2nd call is being processed.
Prof. Yankah commended the leadership of UHAS for ensuring the University stayed focused on health and allied sciences; an area which has great deficit in human resource on the African continent.
He said having been recently awarded the 2019 Dominique Kyelem Prize for Dedication to Neglected Tropical Diseases Research and Programme Implementation, Prof. Gyapong who may not be from the Volta Region where UHAS is located has added a lot after taking over from Prof. Fred Binka.
“No longer should we insist that heads of variety should be someone of the soil. It sets a very bad precedent,” the Minister said.
He stressed that every public university is for the people of Ghana with everyone having equal share irrespective of their background whatsoever.
Among the facilities toured were the School of Pharmacy, UHAS Basic School which is expected to begin admissions in September 2020 and the 640 bed capacity hostel for students; both funded by the university’s Internally Generated Funds among others.
UHAS which started with about 200 students in 2012 now has about 5000 students in all its six schools; School of Allied Health Sciences, School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)