By all accounts, Clara Doe Mvogo – a medical technologist by profession – is not only the Mayor of the city of Monrovia, Liberia, she is also one of its heroes. Just as Mrs. Mvogo was taking office in March 2014, the beginnings of the Ebola epidemic were taking root in rural areas of the… Read More
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that a global influenza (flu) pandemic remains a real threat.[1] Many countries around the world are still ill-prepared to tackle a flu pandemic, including many countries in Africa. Furthermore, there have been recent Avian flu outbreaks reported in poultry farms and wild flocks across Africa, and there is great… Read More
The African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) joins The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) in celebrating Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (MLPW), or “Lab Week”, 23-29 April 2017. Now in its 42nd year, Lab Week presents an opportunity for laboratory professionals to raise awareness about the importance and critical contributions to public health made… Read More
World Malaria Day 2016: Significant Gains, Closing the Gaps Malaria is no longer the leading cause of death among children in sub-Saharan Africa and the proportion of children infected with malaria parasites has been cut in half in endemic areas of Africa since 2000. [1] Across the continent, the prevention of new cases of malaria… Read More
Preventing, Detecting, and Responding: Moving the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Forward in Africa An Interview with US Ambassador and GHSA Champion Dr. Bonnie Jenkins Since shortly after being nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009, Bonnie D. Jenkins, PhD, has served as the Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs at the US Department of State…. Read More
Integration of Tiered Networks within Public Health Institutes: The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) Experience In the last decade, Ethiopia has achieved numerous public health successes, among them early attainment of health-related Millennium Development Goals, a strong tuberculosis (TB) management programme, and progress toward eradication of Guinea worm disease [1-3]. Many of these successes are… Read More
The Results Are In: How a National Sample and Results Transport Network is Improving Patient Care in Uganda Two of the greatest challenges a laboratory network faces when tackling high-risk global health security threats is the safe transportation of a potentially bio-hazardous specimen and the length of the waiting process for test results. To combat… Read More
Tuberculosis: Meeting a Target, Aiming for a Milestone Improving diagnostics to achieve the 90-90-90 TB global targets A person who is not diagnosed with a disease cannot be treated; this is true for many diseases, and is especially of consequence for tuberculosis (TB) patients. Estimates indicate that 50-70% of those with active TB disease would… Read More
An Intrepid New Approach to Global Health Threats ASLM Works to Address Global Health Security in Africa Imagine a world in which country health systems are able to promptly prevent, detect, and respond to global health threats. Imagine the rapid containment of outbreak threats like Ebola and the elimination of pandemics like HIV/AIDS. In a… Read More
The High Stakes of Fighting Zika: the Virus Challenging Public Health Systems In what is now an international effort to quell the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus disease, the stakes are all too high. Since the virus was first isolated in 1952 within the Zika forest near Entebbe, Uganda, confirmed cases of the disease have been rare… Read More
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