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STAFF REPORTER
The country’s top provider of diagnostic and medical laboratory services, Cimas MEDLABS has embarked on a project to renovate and re-equip all its laboratories to ensure that tests are offered onsite in a bid to provide timely results across the country.
Cimas MEDLABS is a designated Health Institution by the Medical Laboratory and Clinical Scientists Association of Zimbabwe that provides several pathology tests including haematology, biochemistry, histology, microbiology, viral load and bone marrow aspirate to Cimas member and non-member patients referred by the primary healthcare clinics and private doctors.
The Cimas Group Medical Advisor and Head of Diagnostics, Dr. Tsitsi Moyo speaking to the media on Wednesday during a tour of Cimas MEDLABS in Harare as part of commemorating the Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (Lab Week) 2024 said the project will reduce the number of tests referred to the Central Laboratory in Harare.
Lab Week is an annual celebration that honours the contributions of medical laboratory professionals in the healthcare sector, recognising the essential role they play in patient care in both the public and private healthcare system.
This year’s edition running from the 14th to the 20th of April 2024 is being commemorated globally under the theme, “The Lab is Everything”.
“Cimas MEDLABS was established in 1985 and has grown from a single laboratory to eight locations countrywide that incorporate a network of branches, satellite laboratories and collection points accounting for a significant volume of all pathology tests carried out in Zimbabwe,” Dr Moyo said.
“As we commemorate the Lab Week, we are happy to be also celebrating our milestone of acquiring a state-of-the-art gene sequencer to be unveiled soon. With this gene sequencing addition, research will be a major thrust of Cimas MEDLABS for the future in ensuring that the African genome is included in all aspects of health care, from diagnostics to pharmaceuticals and every aspect of science.”
Dr. Moyo said the gene sequencer, equipped with the latest advancements in sequencing technology, offers unparalleled speed, accuracy, and efficiency in decoding genetic information.
“Cimas MEDLABS is immensely proud to be at the forefront of genetic research and personalised medicine. We remain committed to advancing medical knowledge and improving patient outcomes through groundbreaking research and technology,” she noted.
Dr, Moyo said Cimas MEDLABS was at the forefront of ensuring that each sample that comes into their care is not just a sample.
She said they are cognisant of the fact that behind each sample is a person with hopes and aspirations, who loves and is loved, who just wants to feel better and has entrusted Cimas MEDLABS with a part of themselves to that end.
“Our laboratory professionals, scientists, pathologists, and all support services put in the hard work and dedication with commitment to accuracy and quick turnaround times to assist clinicians in providing accurate and timely care,” she noted.
Dr Moyo said Cimas MEDLABS believes in investing in a generation of future scientists.
“Cimas MEDLABS as a designated health institution by the Medical Laboratory and Clinical Scientists Association of Zimbabwe offers industrial attachments and internships for newly qualified scientists.
“Through this, we provide new scientists with real-world work exposure, state-of-the-art equipment and an impeccable work ethic to develop them into well-rounded professionals as they launch their careers,” she said.
“Cimas MEDLABS is more than a clinical diagnostic and testing entity; we are also involved in medical research in partnership with some major research and clinical trials in the country. We endeavour to make the African voice, particularly the Zimbabwean voice to be heard as a contributor to scientific discovery.”