Lamu Woman Representative Ruweida Obbo has called for the establishment of a Kenya Medical Research Institute centre in the area to expedite Covid-19 testing.
Coast region has only one such centre located in Kilifi county.
The Kemri centre in Kilifi has recently been overstretched with samples from Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Lamu counties also tested there.
Obbo on Monday said the centre cannot effectively handle all the testing needs of the region hence the need to establish another in Lamu.
She said Lamu was in dire need of its own Kemri centre as its population rises steadily with the onset of mega national projects like the Lapsset.
The new Lamu Port was commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 20.
“The coast region relies on the Kilifi facility but even then, Lamu hasn’t received the help required because the centre is overstretched. The government needs to understand that the population in all the six coastal counties cannot rely on a single facility. We need a Kemri in Lamu considering the population rise occasioned by the port opening,” Obbo said.
Medical expert Abdulnassib Chonda said having a Kemri centre in Lamu will help reduce the high cost incurred during the transportation of sensitive samples to Kilifi.
“We will also save time because normally, the samples go and we have to wait for weeks and months before it’s our turn to have our samples tested. Then again, we have to organise for transport back and so forth. If we have such a center here, we will be able to do that here at our own pace and convenience," Chonda said.
Edited by P.O
