Lanka Hospitals to open Rs. 1 b diagnostic laboratory

A state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory built at a cost of Rs. 1 billion by Lanka Hospitals will be opened in January, hospital sources said. Work on this project commenced last year.

"The new laboratory will conduct around 525 tests which are not done in other hospitals. Eight new sections will be added to the existing sections for laboratory tests. All tests will be outsourced to a new company Lanka Hospitals Diagnostic (Pvt) Ltd. under Lanka Hospitals," a hospital official said.

He said that molecular biology, HLA Typing, Cytogeneces and new born screening tests will be done at the new laboratory. The hospitals hopes to make the tests affordable to all patients. Lanka Hospitals fertility centre celebrated a landmark achievement last week with the delivery of the 500th In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) baby.

The fertility centre added another feather to its cap with the 120 ongoing pregnancies to be delivered through IVF method.

The hospital also has a cost effective arrangement for infertile couples.

Lanka Hospitals, CEO, Lakith Peiris said that the hospital has a 43 percent success rate in IVF births which is on par with international standards. Medical experts said that the success rate in natural births is also the same.

"We are overjoyed to mark the birth of the 500th IVF baby at our state-of-the-art centre using the best technology," Peiris said.

The centre uses the latest freezing methods to store embryos. It is the only centre in South East Asia to have a barcode system to record activities from the donation of the sperm and egg to conceptualisation and delivery, a hospital official said.

Lanka Hospitals, Embryologist, Dr. Madara Ralapanawe said that IVF treatment is performed on women up to 50 years of age.

"We consider patients' wishes such as auspicious times and allowing them to go to their family doctor for injections," he said. Parents of the baby said that they were thrilled with the birth of their child and called upon all couples who could afford, to have children through the IVF method.

It is estimated that around 15 percent of the couples are unable to give birth due to the lifestyle they lead. Delaying marriage and postponing pregnancy, work stress, inhaling toxic chemicals from factories, working in excessively hot environments are some of the major reasons for infertility.

LF