What’s New at LabCoP – April 2023

What’s New

Welcoming the Botswana, Mozambique and Sao Tome Country Teams
The LabCoP Management team is pleased to announce that Botswana, Mozambique, and Sao Tome have joined the LabCoP family! They will perform their first self-assessment in the coming weeks. Please join us in welcoming Botswana, Mozambique, and Sao Tome to the LabCoP family. Bem-vindos, equipes Mozambique e Sao Tome!

New ISO 15189:2022 ECHO Session Series
LabCoP is hosting a special series dedicated to the revised and new ISO 15189:2022 standard that specifies requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories. The first two sessions have concluded, and the next two will focus on more perspectives and guidance from the accrediting bodies, as well as the implications of the ISO 15189:2022 changes to the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) and Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) programmes, which were designed to facilitate the implementation of ISO 15189. Sign up to receive email notifications here. 

Laboratory Directors Forum Chairpersons
ASLM has announced Dr Susan Nabadda, Executive Director, Central Public Health Laboratories Uganda, and Dr Charles Sawadogo, Director of Medical Laboratory Services, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso, as the Interim Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, respectively, of the Laboratory Directors Forum (LabDF). The LabDF, created by ASLM in partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, provides a peer-to-peer environment to bring together African leaders in laboratory services from 55 African Union Member States. Learn more about the Laboratory Directors Forum here.

Looking Ahead

ASLM2023
Save the date for ASLM’s biennial conference as it returns to Cape Town, South Africa, 12-15 December 2023. ASLM2023 offers the opportunity to hear from world-renowned experts on infectious disease control and public health from Africa and across the globe. It is the perfect opportunity to showcase your research and network with other medical laboratory experts and public health leaders. Stay tuned for more info about abstracts and ASLM2023 registration.

New Recipes in LabCoP’s Cookbook of Best Practices
The LabCoP Management Team is preparing two new recipes for inclusion in the Cookbook of Best Practices, including Waste Management and Electronic Return of Results. Look out for the first of these in April 2023.