By Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto (UDUTH) has received a donation of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine from the United States Agency For International
Development. The donation of the PCR worth N50 million was made through the Management Science for Health Project.
It was unveiled in Sokoto on Friday at a ceremony presided over by the Deputy Director, HIV/AIDS and TB of USAID, Dr. Phillip Dayal who said that the gesture was aimed at boosting healthcare delivery of the people of the region and Nigerians in general.
“The machine should be managed well and this partnership will be sustained to provide additional support to the hospital,” he said.
The Co-ordinator of UDUTH-HIV/AIDS Project, Dr. Hamidu Liman said that the PCR is used to measure the viral load of HIV/AIDS patients.
“Majority of the HIV/AIDS patients always require drugs and one of the best ways to monitor the efficacy of these drugs is through the use of the PCR machine, which monitors the viral load in the blood of the patients after every three months,” he said.
Liman explained that the monitoring was to know the quantity of the virus inside the blood system of the patients. “If it so high, it means the drugs are not working and if it is low, it means the drugs are working.”
He added that the PCR is also used for testing HIV/AIDS in new born babies because “the conventional ways of doing so for adults does not work for babies.”
He further disclosed that the machine could be used to test for Hepatitis, A, B and C, Cytomegalovirus, Ebstein Barr and Herpes viruses, among others.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Hospital, Dr. Yakubu Ahmed commended USAID-MSH Project for the gesture. “The machine will be very useful to all the patients who come to the hospital from the entire,” he said.
