U.S. Donates New Lab Equipment to Majuro Hospital

United States Ambassador Clyde Bishop today announced the donation of a specialized medical laboratory device to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Ministry of Health and Majuro Hospital. This new equipment, called a PCR machine, will dramatically expand the national and regional capacity to detect many diseases. It will be delivered to the Marshall Islands and was acquired through the cooperative efforts of U.S. Department of Defense agencies in Hawaii.

Ambassador Bishop personally delivered the good news to the RMI Minister of Health, Alvin Jacklick, on June 14th.

The PCR machine, also called a Lightcycler, uses advanced technology to help detect the DNA fingerprints of diseases through a process called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). It will help to identify and detect a wide variety of illnesses that are currently beyond the diagnostic capacities of the region and will help to fill a void in the disease surveillance activity of the Central Pacific region. Such tests are presently performed at reference laboratories in Hawaii after shipping the specimens from the Marshall Islands. With the correct testing kits, the PCR machine could be used in the future to assist in the evaluation of human cases of Influenza A, H5N1, currently known as the "bird flu".

In January 2007, an assessment by a Mobile Training Team from Joint Task Force-Homeland Defense (JTF-HD, administered by U.S. Army of the Pacific, Hawaii) during a 3-day workshop on pandemic influenza preparedness and response in Majuro determined that disease surveillance in the Central Pacific could be dramatically improved through the purchase of a PCR machine and the proper testing kits.

The JTF-HD team was impressed by the technical capabilities of the laboratory personnel at the Majuro Hospital and determined that the best home for this device in the area was in Majuro. Through the collaboration of the JTF-HD team with other DOD agencies, the device was funded by the United States Pacific Command (PACOM) through the PACOM Surgeon's Office, and purchased through the Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Six (Pearl Harbor, Hawaii).

By linking needs to resources, the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Department of Defense agencies combined their efforts to improve health care and disease detection in the Marshall Islands.

-Provided to Yokwe Online by US Embassy in Majuro, June 20, 2007