Papua New Guinean’s can now access antimicrobial resistance testing

Papua New Guineans can now access a fast turnaround time for world-class antimicrobial resistance testing.

Antimicrobial resistance [AMR] is when bacteria, viruses, or fungi, get to a point where they resist the effects of medications.

It's also mostly due to the overuse and abuse of antibiotics, a common trend for locals, which then leads to untreatable infections.

AMR caused 1700 deaths in 2019 and this will now be a thing of the past, with the opening of the refurbished Central Public Health Microbial Laboratory at the Port Moresby General Hospital on Friday 24th May.

Port Moresby General Hospital Chief Executive Dr. Paki Molumi described AMR as a silent pandemic and a threat to health.

He thanked the British Government and Fleming Fund for the money and capacity towards refurbishing the laboratory.

He says, "It is estimated that by 2050, antimicrobial-resistant deaths will globalize to 10 million. 10 million deaths annually, if unattended to.

In the Asia-Pacific region, it is projected that 4.73 million antimicrobial-resistant deaths will happen by the year 2050."

Laboratories refurbished under Fleming Fund’s country grant

Furthermore, Central Public Health Laboratory Director, Willie Porau says, the laboratory will now see results in real-time and in hours, unlike the past where the turnaround time was three to five days.

"Maldi-tof is a high-tech equipment with a high-proof confirmation of bacteria down to the species level that can identify pathogens within 5-10 seconds.

Phoenix Analyzer performs anti-microbial testing and can produce results within 4-6 hours. The lab is systemized with a recent installation of the level of information management system Senai.

It is now capable of analyzing and running many tests ranging from 50-100 tests at any one time and reporting the AMR results in a real-time manner", said Mr. Porau.

The refurbished Central Public Health Laboratory and Port Moresby Laboratory were part of the Fleming Fund's country grant which saw K31 million go towards phase 1 and a further K15 million for phase 2.

It's being used for refurbishment and capacity building for staff Laboratory.