Local authorities have been urged to come up with stronger and clearer laws to guide forensic and DNA testing in the country.

A Human Identification Consultant and Infectious Disease Specialist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Central Laboratory, Dr Augustine E. Sagoe, said such a regulation would compel forensic laboratories in the country to do targeted forensic tests.

This, he said, would help the laboratories to get regular jobs, make them busy and also enable them to secure funds to run the relevant tests.

Additionally, he said important reagents for such testing would ultimately be utilised and not go waste.

Dr Sagoe, who was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic on forensic and DNA testing in Ghana, explained that although the country presently had a legislation that permitted the operation of forensic laboratories, there should be a standard for the whole country as to where specifically to go to if one needed a particular forensic test.

“We should have a legislation that may say for all our criminal investigations in the country, we are doing them at the Police Service Forensic Laboratory. Korle Bu will be prepared for Ghana’s Paternity Lab so that everybody who wants paternity testing will send the samples there,” he explained.
Reagents

He said it cost a lot of money to purchase reagents for forensic tests, hence if only a small part of them were used at the end of a month, for instance, they might expire.

Dr Sagoe, who initiated DNA testing in Ghana, confirmed that there was a market for forensic and DNA testing in Ghana, explaining that before starting it, he did feasibility studies at the Accra High Court, where he saw columns of cases pending for DNA paternity.

However, because an ordinary person could not afford to pay the cost for doing such testing outside the country, the columns were still there.

“So the market is there but it’s just that we need legislation to guide us,” he said.

Throwing more light on the regulations, he said they were important because DNA testing involved sensitive personal data and had legal implications, including ensuring that DNA profiles were stored securely and not misused; ensuring that evidence was handled properly so that results were admissible in court and for testing to be done only with proper consent and for legitimate purposes.

He said it also required laboratories to follow international standards such as ISO 17025.