Kuwait Ministry of Health
Challenge Detected
Established in 1956 the Public Health Laboratories of Kuwait are responsible for protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the international food trade. All export and import foods are inspected for their fitness and conformation in these laboratories. All inspections build on an international authorized organization called Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Public Health Laboratories are also authorized to certify all food companies. Testing water from different sources in the country is an important role that the Public Health Laboratories are taking over.
The laboratories focus on water quality and are equipped to perform chemical and biological analyses for tap water, sewage water, sea water, rose water, carbonated water and flavored water, in addition to other samples.
With a population of over 4 million, the country of Kuwait has seen some phenomenal growth both economically and with its population. With one of the highest per capita incomes in the world the citizens of Kuwait live increasingly comfortable lives and their government continues to provide generous material benefits. Kuwait has long been known as an ‘oasis’ of peace and safety amid an otherwise turbulent region. However, one thing this oasis region does not have is any permanent surface water – such as lakes or rivers, and most precipitation such as rainfall is lost to evaporation.
The Kuwait Ministry of Health operates the Public Health Laboratories and these labs are responsible for testing and ensuring the safety of the country’s water supply. The Labs had been using the older traditional methods of testing for E. coli and Total Coliform but found them to be labour intensive, slow, and complicated. These tests rely heavily on manual preparation and interpretation and are open to mistakes with both. It is not always easy to tell visually whether or not a test is positive or negative.
Solution Detected
The Kuwait Ministry of Health made the decision to install four TECTA™ B16 units in their central lab. The TECTA™ B16 is the world’s first fully automated, rapid, on-site detection system for E.coli, coliforms, and enterococcus bacteria. The TECTA™ B16 provides them with the speed, accuracy, and an advanced digital alert system to increase efficiency and ease-of-use within the lab, as well as offer increased accuracy and security of results.
This ensures that the information regarding a positive test for E. Coli, coliforms, or enterococcus can be forwarded to the proper authorities in a fraction of the time it used to take.
The aspects of utilizing the TECTA™ B16 that impressed the Kuwait Ministry of Health the most were numerous, and included:
• Completely automated testing – removes possibility of human error
• Ease of use – you don’t need to be a lab tech to use TECTA™ B16
• Much faster detection and alert times – from 2-18 hours
• Multiple tests from one unit – each TECTA™ B16 can run up to 16 different samples
• Samples can be added at any time – no waiting period to start tests
• Ease of use means that many people can be quickly trained to run the TECTA™ B16
“We are extremely pleased with the positive impact that installing the TECTA™ B16 has had on our testing and reporting time,” said a Senior Lab Technician from the Kuwait MoH Public Health Lab. “It is imperative that our labs provide the best quality control possible and the instant network reporting system means that the right people know the results immediately. We look forward to a very successful relationship with our partners at TECTA-PDS.”
Success Detected
The Kuwait Ministry of Health is responsible for the health of millions of their country’s citizens. The TECTA™ B16 makes it easy to run tests on water in any location – no lab or lab technician required. The patented technology also delivers accurate results in as little as 2-18 hours. The TECTA™ B16 can deliver its results to smartphone or tablets as soon as contamination is detected, making it easy to act quickly in the event of a health emergency.