AFFORDABLE DIAGNOSTIC CENTRES IN ACCRA.
Affordable diagnostic centres in Accra are important for two main reasons.
One, considering how critical diagnostic services have become in the delivery of quality healthcare, it is important that they are affordable to promote full patronage of all persons from various social strata with their varied earning powers. Accra has become a melting pot of sorts where many citizens from the various regions (in Ghana) and even the African sub-region migrate for one reason or another, thus making the social spaces of Accra relatively dense. All these persons cannot be denied quality healthcare of which diagnostic services cannot be taken out – a more reason why affordable diagnostic centers in Accra are non-negotiable.
That being said, it is common knowledge that the services of diagnostic centers do not come free. These services come at a cost that could range from affordable to expensive if not even more. Perhaps, aside a hypochondria (a person who has worries about getting or being taken ill from many different diseases), no healthy person would like to be a regular at diagnostic centers to engage their services because quite aside from the general discomfort of having to undergo medical screening and tests (that even a hypochondria may not enjoy), there is also a cost these services attract.
A TIGHT ROPE DANCE
Diagnostic centers are places that perform various tests to determine the cause of a medical condition. These medical tests carried out by diagnostic centers are usually done upon the request of a medical doctor as part of their routine processes while investigating the symptoms of their patients who come for healthcare provision. Results from these diagnostic tests go a long way to help the doctors to arrive at the cause of whatever ill-health situation they are dealing with and aid them to decide on appropriate medical interventions to cater to the medical needs of their customers. Providing quality diagnostic services and keeping it affordable is almost always a tightrope dance.
Any diagnostic center worth it sort is usually a well-equipped facility with all the equipment needed to run tests and produce accurate results for the important medical decision to be taken on human lives. Aside from machinery (which as yet doesn’t operate by themselves), these centers are usually run by highly trained professionals - Biomedical Scientists, Technicians, Consultants, Support Service personnel, etc. who work these machines to provide needed services for healthcare promotion. Working together, they provide a comprehensive analytical, diagnostic, and advisory service to patrons who rely on the output of their services to be medically served.
Quite aside from government healthcare facilities that provide affordable diagnostic centers in Accra for public healthcare provision, many of the private affordable diagnostic centers opened to the general public are set up by individuals or groups as profit-making enterprises. Don’t get it wrong – it is not like the government-provided facilities give free diagnostic services; no, they don’t, but it could be argued that their charges, compared to many private facilities, may be more merciful to the ordinary man’s wallet.
Of course, these privately owned/run facilities need to sustain their operations and so patrons of their services need to pay a commensurate amount of money for their operations and the services they render. But considering the fact that the bulk of the populace is below the minimum income bracket, there’s a need for these diagnostic services to be made affordable if the average citizen would also benefit from the services of these critical medical facilities.
AFFORDABLE DIAGNOSTIC CENTRES IN ACCRA
SYNLAB formerly Medlab Ghana, is one such affordable diagnostic center in Accra. Be it for specific screenings or routine tests to facilitate better diagnostics and treatment of patients, we have state-of-the-art machinery and highly trained professionals to give our patrons their money’s worth. With over 5,000 plus laboratory tests on offer for both the general public and health practitioners alike, we are competitively affordable with our creatively thought-through medical screening packages and offers to our patrons and would-be patrons. We understand that there would be little benefit obtained by making quality diagnostic services accessible yet too expensive to be patronized.
At a program organized to recognize sterling diagnostic centers, SYNLAB was pronounced the overall best medical laboratory center of the year 2022. The ceremony which took place at the Golden Tulip hotel was participated in by a myriad of well-known diagnostic laboratories. We continue in our quest to expand and replicate our quality yet affordable diagnostic centers not only in Accra and Tema but in Kumasi, Sunyani, Koforidua, Takoradi and Goaso, Tarkwa, and Techiman. Meanwhile, across the globe, we straddle over 40 countries.
AFFORDABLE DIAGNOSTICS – A HISTORY
Diagnostic centers and their contribution to healthcare provision have come a long way. From tasting urine to microscopy to molecular testing, techniques and method to arrive at the cause of ill health get ever sophisticated and we have not seen the end of it. So affordable diagnostic centers also come a long way!
“In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the earliest physicians made diagnoses and recommended treatments based primarily on observation of clinical symptoms. Palpitation and auscultation were also used. Physicians were able to describe dysfunctions of the digestive tract, heart and circulation, the liver and spleen, and menstrual disturbances; unfortunately, this empiric medicine was reserved for royalty and the wealthy. Other less-than-scientific methods of diagnosis used in treating the middle and lower classes included divination through ritual sacrifice to predict the outcome of illness. Usually, a sheep would be killed before the statue of a god. Its liver was examined for malformations or peculiarities; the shape of the lobes and the orientation of the common duct were then used to predict the fate of the patient.” (Culled from History of the Lab – Part 1 – Ancient times through the 19th Century by Darlene Berger).
Imagine…..
REFERENCES
