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Kudzawu Samuel Kobla

About: Motivational Statement - Samuel Kudzawu. Coming from a background of Tuberculosis as a victim both afflicted and affected, a TB Laboratory Technician, TB Community based worker and an Advocate. My father started having problems with TB when I was in basic school. He later died if not of TB then due to prolong battle with TB thereby developing other conditions. A brother who was so close to my dad had active TB when we both came to Accra after high school and was treated. One of my sisters had TB later and had one short course and two retreatment regimens. She is alive but has residuals of Prolong TB disease and several treatment regimes. I lost one sister to TB when I was training as a medical Laboratory technician. She was in my care at the referral TB facility in the hospital I was training in. An uncle that I stayed with during my earlier days in the capital had a history of more than one retreatment at the time I came to him. He is alive now but as usual the residual of prolong TB Disease and treatment. I was so hit by the death of my sister, who died during my training such that after school I decided to dedicate my life to fight TB. This motivated me to request for the re-opening a closed lab at the Chest Clinic of the Teaching Hospital to resume smear microscopy in June, 1997. I have been technologist in charge of the Chest tuberculosis (TB) laboratory since its opening in 1997 till 2007. Through my diligence and foresight, and good working relationship with the TB care team the TB laboratory has developed from doing simple sputum smear microscopy to doing in addition both solid and liquid cultures and DST, as well as molecular methods for diagnosing multi-drug resistant TB. Quality assured sputum microscopy and mycobacteriology cultures are part of my responsibilities, and I serve nationwide as a trainer and quality assurance assessor for the National TB control program. As at October, 2010, the lab has assumed the status of the National TB reference Lab supporting PMDRTB. The lab was a major sample processing site for the recent Prevalence Survey alongside the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research as the minor site. The Korle-Bu Chest laboratory is part of a network of West African Scientific Institutions under the sponsorship of the EDCTP undergoing capacity building to prepare these institutions for clinical trials for which I am the Co- investigator for the Ghana site. I am keen to learn, ready to apply new diagnostic techniques/methods, and branch out into other fields outside tuberculosis. I have gained a lot of laboratory experience over nineteen years committed to TB work I have been active in research in the department and have contributed to several publications on MDR-TB, TB mortality and default. I am also skilled in the use of Access and common software for the recording and analysis of laboratory data. I have contributed to on-going research and database development in the department, with interest in MDR surveillance and diagnosis of TB in HIV/TB co-infected patients. The incidence of TB cases from a refugee camp close to Accra being recorded at the chest clinic those days and the difficulty associated with their treatments leading to high default rates made me to relocate at the refugee camp to start a community based care and smear microscopy services. My current residence has been a community based treatment facility and have since September 2003 treated 248 TB cases. I have also through an award from Vodafone World of Difference established a novelty Courier Diagnosis and community Laboratory which is providing help to the management of TB in AOB District in the Central Region of Ghana. This was with the support and collaboration of all stakeholders in the community (Traditional leaders, NGOs, Department of Social Welfare, the District Assembly, the District health Directorate and the Media). Trainings and workshops were held for all the stakeholders. I am very capable, hardworking gentleman with good supervisory skills, and also a trainer of trainers who will increase and extend the capacity for other national laboratories.