Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfProc7): Abstract 083 | Published: 05 Oct 2026
Daniel Adigbi1,&, Alexander Asamoah2
1Oti Regional Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Worawora, Ghana, 2National Malaria Elimination Programe, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Daniel Adigbli; Oti Regional Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Worawora, Ghana, Email: adigblidan@yahoo.co.uk
Received: 29 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 05 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the 8th Ghana FELTP Scientific Conference and FELTP Competency Graduation, Accra, Ghana, 10 – 11 December, 2025
Keywords: Laboratory capacity, preparedness, response capacity, Oti Region, Ghana
©Daniel Adigbi et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Daniel Adigbi et al. Assessment of epidemic preparedness and response capacity of laboratories in the Oti Region, Ghana. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):083. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0083
Clinical laboratories are critical for diagnosing and supporting the control of infectious diseases. Concerns about the ability of health facility laboratories to detect and respond to epidemics and other emergencies have increased in recent times. This situation has raised questions regarding preparedness and response capacity of laboratories in Oti Region. Laboratories were assessed to determine their level of preparedness.
We purposively selected eighteen functional hospital and health centre laboratories and assessed them on eight indicators of the World Health Organization’s Laboratory Assessment Tools critical for responding to public health emergencies. Managers of the respective laboratories completed the checklist, which assesses preparedness and emergency responses in eight components: equipment; reagents and consumables; data and information management; biorisk; laboratory staffing; specimen collection, handling and transport; facility and public health functions. Assessment was calculated using percentage scores relative to the WHO benchmark. Results were presented in tables and graphs.
Of the 18 laboratories assessed, the mean score for both data management and availability of reagents and consumables indicators was 78% (optimal). Sample management scored 70% (medium optimal) while equipment scored 68% (medium optimal). Public health functions scored 56% (medium optimal), and biorisk management scored 55% (medium optimal). Facility and human resources scored below 50% (minimally optimal) according to the benchmark levels established by WHO. Hospital laboratories scored higher mean scores than health centers.
Overall, laboratories preparedness to respond to public health emergencies in the Oti Region was suboptimal. Laboratories in hospitals recorded higher preparedness compared to health center-level laboratories. This assessment provides useful insights to health authorities to help guide decisions to improve public health emergency preparedness of health facility laboratories in the Oti Region.
Menu