Our Expertise

SLIPTA

In 2009, World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) established a framework for improving the quality of public health laboratories in developing countries to achieve ISO 15189 standards. This framework, renamed in 2011 and implemented by ASLM in Africa, is the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) programme.

Through standardised processes, SLIPTA measures and evaluates the progress of laboratories towards international accreditation and awards a certificate of recognition with 0-5 star ratings. SLIPTA enables laboratories to develop their quality management systems in order to produce timely, reliable and accurate laboratory results.

See the latest SLIPTA Audited Laboratories Distribution Map here.

See the WHO Guide for the Stepwise Laboratory Improvement Process Towards Accreditation in the African Region (with checklist) here.

What is the difference between SLIPTA and SLMTA?

What is SLMTA?
Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation

A task-based training and mentoring tool kit provided to the laboratory personnel in a multi-workshop implementation model. The foundation of this programme is a framework that defines the tasks a laboratory manager must perform in order to deliver quality laboratory services which support optimal patient care. Training activities are designed to enable laboratory managers to accomplish those tasks, using tools and job aides to enhance their management routines. It empowers laboratory managers to initiate immediate laboratory improvement measures, even without additional resources. For more information about SLMTA, please visit www.SLMTA.org

Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation

A framework of auditing developed in line with the ISO 15189:2007 Standards and to a certain extent with the 12 Quality System Essentials of the CLSI Laboratory Quality Management System Guidelines. It is used to measure and evaluate the progress of laboratory quality system and award a certificate of recognition (five star levels). It can be used at baseline, during supervision, and for monitoring and evaluation of laboratory progress towards accreditation.

For additional information about SLIPTA, please Email us.
For more information about SLMTA, please visit www.SLMTA.org
For more information about SLMTA, please Email Dr. Katy Yao.

RESULTS

Proportion of internationally accredited medical/clinical laboratories in Africa from 2014 and 2019

Since the launch of the SLIPTA programme and the Maputo Declaration, the number of accredited laboratories in Africa has increased from 422 in 2014 (Figure 1) to 633 in 2019 (Figure 2). As indicated in the figures, there the proportion of laboratories achieving accreditation outside South Africa is increasing, illustrating the overall advancement of quality management systems across the continent. Twenty percent of non-South African laboratories achieving ISO accreditation in 2019 have been engaged in the SLIPTA programme.

Accreditation Bodies
  • College of American Pathologists (CAP)
  • Comite Francais d’Accreditation (COFRAC)
  • Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC)
  • Ethiopian National Accreditation Office (ENAO)
  • Institute for Quality Management in the Healthcare (IQMH)
  • Instituto Português de Acreditaçăo (IPAC)
  • Joint Commission International (JCI)
  • Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS)
  • Mauritius Accreditation Service (MARITAS)
  • Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NINAS)
  • South African National Accreditation System (SANAS)
  • Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS)
  • Système Ouest Africain d’Accréditation (SOAC)

To contribute to, or provide feedback on the compilation of the above laboratory accreditation data, or to learn more about ASLM SLIPTA implementation, please send us an email.

Affiliations

ISO TC 212 is the global ISO committee that addresses the field of Laboratory Medicine. As a liaison organization of ISO TC212, ASLM contributes to the work of the technical committee and subcommittees.

 

AFRAC is a cooperation of accreditation bodies, sub-regional accreditation collaborations and stakeholders whose objective is to facilitate trade and contribute to the protection of health, safety and the environment in Africa. ASLM is a stakeholder of AFRAC and contributes by facilitating capacity building in accreditation across Africa with the goal of sustaining an internationally acceptable, mutual recognition arrangement.