WHO Country Representative Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, visited Khyber Medical University (KMU) to inspect the Public Health Reference Laboratory (PHRL) of the KMU

A team of the World Health Organization headed by the WHO country representative Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, visited Khyber Medical University (KMU) to inspect the Public Health Reference Laboratory (PHRL) of the KMU on March 17, 2020. The lab is a result of tripartite collaboration between the Department of Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, National Institute of Health Pakistan and the KMU. The PHRL is one of the handful of public sector laboratories that have been designated by the Government to conduct testing for the COVID-19 virus. The PHRL receives samples from the designated sample collection points across the province.
Dr. Yasar Yousafzai, the Director of PHRL KMU updated the WHO team on the Standard Operating Procedures for Corona Virus testing at the Lab and provided an overview of the mechanism of testing and biosafety at the PHRL. The Vice Chancellor of KMU Prof. Arshad Javaid re-assured the WHO team that KMU will pour in all its resources to further scale-up the testing and help the Govt in tackling the contagion.
Dr. Palitha expressed extreme satisfaction over the Corona testing ability of the PHRL and applauded the efforts of KMU for their efforts in aiding the KP Govt to address COVID-19. He also requested the PHRL team to be ready and vigilant for heightened pressure in the wake of possible spikes in the numbers of COVID-19 patients. The WHO team also insisted that the Public should know that the designated labs are only for testing of the virus and not for sample collection, so the public should refrain from coming directly to these labs.