Two officials from Roche, a leading health care provider based in Switzerland with a subsidiary in Ghana has held a workshop for staff of the UCC Hospital to build their capacity on Hepatitis B & C.

The workshop is aimed at training the staff to effectively carry out screening and diagnosing Hepatitis B & C on a pilot basis at the University of Cape Coast. The workshop forms part of a project by Roche to fight the disease in the country.

This came to light when the Director of the University Health Services, Dr. Evan Ekanem led two officials from Roche Products Ghana Limited to pay a courtesy call on the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro in his office. The officials are Dr. Daniel Mingle and Mr. John K. K. Klu

Welcoming the officials, Prof. Oduro commended Roche for partnering UCC Hospital for the project. He expressed the hope that the collaboration would facilitate support in the form of medical equipment to support the University Hospital in providing quality health services to the University Community and the general public.

In his remarks, Mr. Klu said Roche was privileged to work with the University Hospital to fight Hepatitis B & C which according to him continue to kill a lot of Ghanaians. He said Roche is a multinational pharmaceutical company established in 1896 in Basel, Switzerland. As a pioneer in healthcare delivery he said Roche has over the years created innovative medicines and diagnostic tests that help millions of patients globally. He added that “Roche is world's largest biotech company and the global leader in cancer treatments.”

The company has been operating in Ghana for the past 26 years with 23 personnel. Mr. Klu noted that the company was currently targeting some specific institutions and organisations in the county to pilot screening and treatment of certain ailments. He further indicated that the exercise would be scaled up at the national level. He thanked the University Management for the opportunity to work on the Hepatitis B & C project.