Laboratório de la Esperança (Laboratory of Hope)
Childhood cancer is the second cause of death of children and teenagers in Brazil. The most effective way to fight this type of cancer is with early diagnosis and specialized treatment. In Bahia, due to the lack of specialized hospitals, most children and teenagers affected by the disease must go to the capital to receive treatment that lasts two years on average.
With the progression of the Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures, the GACC-BA suffered a drastic fall in all its sources of income. In an attempt to avoid interruption of its assistance operations, the GACC-BA opted for the final cards in the GACC Diagnostic Center (CDG), a business unit that also contributes to maintaining the institution and brings together the laboratories of Immunogenetics and Transplants, Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases, and Genetic Link Research. Taking advantage of the cutting-edge infrastructure it already had, it invested to acquire new technology to diagnose the Covid-19, providing the most important test, the RT-qPCR. However, after the first few months, it was determined necessary to adapt this new activity by acquiring support equipment that could be used to expand the attention capabilities and income generation for the GACC-BA.
The main objective of the “Laboratório da Esperança” project is to financially support GACC-BA operations during the period of economic instability following the pandemic, by consolidating a new GDC activity: analyzing RT-qPCR tests for Covid-19. For better performance of the analysis equipment used, two pieces of equipment must be replaced: the nobreak to regulate the voltage and the purity of the energy from the equipment, and the air conditioning to ensure the temperature is controlled in the space where the samples are analyzed. In addition, to increase attraction of new business, the project suggests acquiring audioconferencing equipment, which will facilitate remote meetings. The “Laboratorio de la Esperanza” will allow GACC-BA to continue providing all social assistance services comprehensively, since children’s treatment cannot be interrupted.