The new, specially-equipped unit is the third such facility in the country and the first in Southern Thailand dedicated to testing and treating patients suspected of suffering from ebola and other serious conditions such as dengue fever and malaria.
The unit is equipped with biological safety cabinet (BSC), allowing blood tests to be carried out in isolation, as well as high-pressure sterilizing equipment and machines to perform automated blood counts and detect biochemicals.
Inside the lab technicians wear special biological protection suits or PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment).
Presiding over the official opening of the new unit was Deputy Director-General of the Department of Medical Science under the Ministry of Public Health, Wanchai Sattayawuthipong.
“With world-wide concern about the spread of ebola, the Ministry of Public Health plans to establish 30 DRA labs across the country by the end of next year. Phuket is the first province in Southern Thailand to have its own lab,” said Mr Wanchai.
Patients who test positive for ebola can then be treated at the facility.
Phuket was chosen as one of the first provinces in the country to be equipped with a DRA lab due to the high number of international visitors to the province.
There have been no cases of ebola reported in Thailand but 300 people have been treated for dengue fever so far this year, said Mr Wanchai. One died of the disease.