Professor Seth Wiafe, an environmental scientist on Thursday stressed the need to train personnel in biomedical technology to specialise in medical equipment repairs in the country. He said most medical equipments discarded at hospitals were abandoned because of simple and repairable defects which with capacity in biomedical technology could be preserved to serve the needs of the people. Prof. Wiafe, a Lecturer at Loma Linda University in the US, made the call at a Fellowship Meeting at Valley View University (VVU) in Accra to launch findings of a research sponsored by Partnership for Quality Medical Equipment Donations (PQMD), an international charity organisation responsible for donating medical equipments worldwide. Participants were drawn from the US Action Aid, Ghana Health Services, Local NGOs and representatives of research institutions - Valley View University and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. The project which began in 2007 was to evaluate medical donation practices in Ghana. Other objectives of the project includes providing a foundation for decision making on medical donation, foster co-operation among potential recipients and donor organisations, and identify opportunities for PQMD members to partner local organisations to collaborate appropriate medical resources and needs. Prof. Wiafe said since disasters occurred without notice both developed and developing countries depended on donors for medical equipments. He said the idea to evaluate medical donation practice in Ghana came to him in Ethiopia when a washing machine donated to a hospital could not be utilised because certain basic gadgets to facilitate its use were not available. Prof. Wiafe said the project was the first in Africa and would be replicated in some other African countries, Kenya and Zambia after its success in Ghana. He explained that VVU and KNUST were selected to involve both private and public universities and while VVU covered the southern sector, KNUST took the northern sector of the country in the research. Dr Seth Laryea, President of VVU said the fellowship was an opportunity for stakeholders, donors and management of medical equipments to collaborate to solve basic health needs of the people. He said the project had positive impact on the two institutions as they introduced students to research methods and expressed appreciation to the managements of Johnson & Johnson, Loma Linda University and PQMD the donor institutions for their contribution. Source: GNA