Developing a Laboratory Outbreak Preparedness Score Card: The Sierra Leone Field Experience Recognising the need for a coordinated plan to address all aspects of laboratory reconstruction in Sierra Leone, Dr. Isatta Wurie of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) worked with the Ministry of Health and… Read More
Reconstructing Laboratory Systems: How to Rebuild in Ebola-Affected Countries As the world’s most devastating Ebola epidemic draws to a close, governments and local institutions are looking to the future. Emerging from the urgent task of crisis management, experts are asking what steps can be taken to rebuild badly shaken health infrastructures. In the words of… Read More
Bridging the Treatment Gap in Africa: Global Coalition Works to Reduce Cost of HIV Testing in Infants Diagnostics Access Initiative partners announce significantly lower testing costs to improve access to life-saving HIV testing Life-saving treatment for HIV-exposed infants is more accessible now than ever before thanks to a new commitment by Roche Diagnostics to lower… Read More
Gaining Momentum to End AIDS by 2030 New Phnom Penh Statement builds on global effort to improve quality and access to HIV testing HIV-related point-of-care testing (POCT) technologies have become widely available, and they serve as a catalyst to attaining the UNAIDS-led 90-90-90 HIV treatment targets [1] by improving access to diagnostics in resource-limited countries…. Read More
Mozambique Achieves Accreditation for its National TB Reference Laboratory ASLM SLIPTA programme integral to success Imagine visiting your local doctor with a severe illness and worsening cough. When the laboratory test results come back confirming you have tuberculosis – do you wonder if they are accurate? For many people living in Africa, this is an… Read More
Fighting to Eliminate Ebola and Strengthen Health Systems: An African Perspective The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed more than 11,000 lives and focused the world’s attention on the need to strengthen health systems in developing communities. In today’s interconnected world, challenges that arise in communities with underdeveloped health systems can quickly be exacerbated… Read More
Pioneering New Diagnostics: Addressing Challenges and Implications for Point-of-Care Testing in African Settings Point-of-Care Testing: Why is it important? Imagine yourself in a city at the centre of one of the world’s deadliest disease outbreaks. You watch as your friends and relatives are struck down by an aggressive illness that kills roughly 50-90% of those… Read More
New ASLM Country Ambassador Champions Laboratory Medicine in Central Africa ASLM recently welcomed Prof. Francois-Xavier Mbopi-Keou to the ASLM Ambassador Programme. Prof. Mbopi-Keou joins ASLM as Ambassador for Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With over 25 years of experience in research, public health, and microbiology/virology, and as… Read More
Smartphone Technology Bolsters Infectious Disease Surveillance A patient presents to the healthcare facility with prolonged fever and chills. Within moments of diagnosis using a rapid-test for malaria, the results are disseminated to health officials 200 kilometres away who are able to track the prevalence of malaria in real-time. This, made possible with a smartphone and… Read More
Partners Meeting Reviews Implementation of National Strategic Lab Plan in Angola On the 10th of July 2014, ASLM conducted a seminar in Angola that brought together a number of partners to discuss the status of implementation of the National Strategic Plan. This meeting aimed to establish strategies to strengthen laboratory networks in order for laboratories… Read More
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