South Cotabato, Koronadal City- The newly established confirmatory testing laboratory for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) will fully operate this 2021 said, John Arlo Codilla, infectious diseases coordinator of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO).
The provincial Government of South Cotabato targets the operation of the lab within this year, as the office is currently working on the approval by the Department of Health of the license-to-operate (LTO) of its Certified Rapid HIV Diagnostic Algorithm Confirmatory Laboratory or CrCL.
The facility is an extension of their HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS Core Team (HACT) Clinic, which is situated at the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital compound.
The “one-stop-shop” at the HACT Clinic provides treatment care and counseling services for HIV/AIDS patients and the clinic was able to detect early cases of HIV and provide immediate intervention to the patients.
Before the establishment of the laboratory, the IPHO had to send screened samples for confirmation to the Sexually Transmitted Diseases/AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila.
“We can now get confirmatory results through our laboratory in just 15 minutes,” Codilla said.
