An American medical manufacturer, Beckman Coulter, installed two new pieces of medical laboratory equipment at Black Lion Specialised Hospital valued at two million dollars.

The two laboratory facilities are equipped with a capacity of performing 1,600 tests an hour and are fully sponsored by Beckman Coulter. Delta Instrument Technology, a local agent of Beckman Coulter, will provide training services to workers and maintain the equipment.

The equipment was granted through a three-year framework agreement with the American firm that will supply the reagents required to run the tests, according to Daniel G. Michael (MD), advisor to the Minister of Health.

"This framework agreement is believed to solve the maintenance, disruptions and shortages of reagents in the health facilities," tweeted Amir Aman (MD), minister of Health.

The framework agreement envisions the procurement of 500 machines from European and American manufacturers that will be distributed across hospitals and health centres throughout Ethiopia, which has 300 government hospitals, of which 13 are in Addis Abeba.

The first 50 laboratory machines have already been installed at eight different hospitals, including the two at Black Lion, where the haematology and chemistry laboratories will each receive one. Six other manufacturers supplied the remaining 48 laboratory machines.

Black Lion, located on Zambia Street, is the largest teaching and referral hospital in the country and provides admissions, treatment, surgical services and employs 3,400 staff. It processes approximately 370,000 to 400,000 patients a year, treats around 80,000 patients in its emergency department and retains 800 hospital beds, 169 specialists and 65 non-teaching physicians.

The hospital is affiliated with the Addis Abeba University School of Medicine and serves as a training centre for fellows, postgraduates, undergraduates, medical students, dentists, nurses, radiographers and laboratory technicians.

The framework will solve the problem of the shortage of reagent supplies and equipment maintenance, as well as improving medical tests, according to Ebba Abate (MD), director general of Ethiopian Public Health Institution.

Black Lion faces the problem of outdated and dilapidated laboratory equipment that has suffered from deferred maintenance, according to Dawit Wondimagegn (MD), the Hospital's CEO.