Pathologists Lancet Group, the largest private medical laboratory service provider in East Africa, has commenced its services in Rwanda following licensing that was granted in December, 2015 by the Ministry of Health.
Lancet has set up an ultra modern international facility in the capital Kigali, located at Remera- Kisimenti suburb in the new building Umuyenzi Plaza. The new laboratory is now up and running, further extending Lancet’s footprint in East Africa. Lancet already has over 40 branches in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
According to Group CEO of Pathologists Lancet East Africa Dr Ahmed Kalebi, the new facility will save residents of Rwanda the need to travel abroad for quality routine, specialized and esoteric medical laboratory tests.
“The new facility avails specialized laboratory tests that were unavailable in Rwanda before. Therefore enhance accessibility and affordability for better healthcare in the country,” said Dr Kalebi.
“Our aim is to enhance access to quality medical laboratory services which is at the heart of quality healthcare. The facility will conduct many of the specialized tests on site while rare specialized tests and esoteric tests will be seamlessly referred to the Group’s reference laboratory in Nairobi and Johannesburg at no extra cost to the clients in Rwanda thus saving them costs, time and ensuring quality and quick turn-around time”, he added
The new facility in Rwanda is linked through Information technology with Lancet’s main branches in Nairobi and South Africa for technical and specialized support.
Services provided
Services available in the new facility include; Hematology, Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Serology, Histopathology/Cytopathology, Immunohistochemistry, Virology, and Cytogenetics among others.
Pathologists Lancet serves as a referral facility for major public and private hospitals and health facilities where they conduct specialized tests including specialized chemistry tests, cancer diagnostics and referral pathology consultation.
According to the World Health Organization, medical laboratory services are crucial to healthcare provision since they enable doctors to diagnose diseases correctly and deliver the right treatments.
Pathologists Lancet Kenya is the regional holding company being part of the Lancet Laboratories Group originally from South Africa, and in turn, it has its own regional subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania and now Rwanda. It is slated that more facilities will open in the region, namely South Sudan in 2016.
Lancet offers more than 4000 routine and specialized medical laboratory tests, many of which were previously unavailable in the region before, including sophisticated molecular tests, paternity tests, and allergy tests, tissue typing and even veterinary tests for animals in partnership with IDEXX Laboratories.
The Rwanda operations is spearheaded by a team of young Rwandese professionals including senior technical officers and contracted pathologists working closely with their counterparts in Kenya and the rest of the Lancet Group.
Lancet laboratories Rwanda will officially launch its services in February 2016.
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