Jammu, Apr 03: A team of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), New Delhi, inspected the COBAS 6800 Lab installed in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu and gave clearance for starting viral load testing in the hospital for better management of HIV & Hepatitis B, C patients. The team said that for solid organ transplant programs also, viral load testing on various viruses is the need of the hour for better patient care.
The COBAS 6800 Lab of the Department of Microbiology was inspected by Dr. Manoj Kumar (Sr. Manager LaQSH) in collaboration with CDC New Delhi as lead assessor. Dr. Kumar meticulously assessed the laboratory services and manpower and declared the laboratory suitable for the initiation of viral load testing with an assessment score of 93.5%.
This shall be followed by training of staff and the start of viral load testing in GMC Jammu itself, the hospital said, adding, “With the establishment of viral load testing various patients under treatment of Hepatitis under National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) & HIV under National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) will be benefited and eventually improve the diagnosis and patient care.”
It is pertinent to mention here that COBAS Lab has been established under the VRDL program as a state-of-the-art lab and is playing a lead role in COVID RT-PCR testing in the Jammu province. All over India, 64 Abbott platforms and 13 COBAS 6800 have been allocated for viral load testing. Earlier, the sample of HIV viral load used to be sent to Chandigarh by NACO but with the establishment of this platform for viral load and all the further tests will be done in Jammu including viral load testing in Hepatitis B & C patients and transplant-associated infections in immunosuppressed patients.
