Resource Centre

On 17 November 2022, ASLM convened this special ECHO session on critical enablers and barriers for local manufacturing of diagnostics among African member states. The continent is heavily reliant on imported diagnostics, and in times of crisis, the continent is at greater risk, as supply chains tend to satisfy local needs first. True and equitable… Read More

On 7 July 2022, ASLM’s LabCoP convened a session about the power of human papiloma virus (HPV) DNA testing in transforming cervical cancer screening in Africa: In this session, In this session, we highlight the value of screening with the HPV DNA test, and its clinical performance. We also share the Zambia country experience of… Read More

In this Antimicrobial (AMR) Community of Practice (CoP) webinar, we discuss the One Health approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This approach provides significant opportunities to explore broadly-existing microbial relationships between humans and animals. In this session, from the genomic point of view, the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD), Senegal presents unique perspectives of AMR… Read More

On 14 April 2022 ASLM’s LabCoP convened an Extended ECHO session about addressing diagnostic gaps in the tuberculosis (TB) care cascade, which featured discussion about the MTB/XDR assays and considerations for their implementation. Presentations were made by Dr. Kogieleum Naidoo, Head of the HIV and Tuberculosis Treatment Program at the Centre for AIDS Program of… Read More

The Assay Verification Tool is designed to help laboratories implement new tests, making it easier to design, setup, and analyse data generated as part of a new test procedure verification. The tool provides planning assistance for assay verification experiments for PCR testing for CE-IVD assays. Data analysis of the performance specifications for assay verification is… Read More

On 15 March 2022, ASLM’s LabCoP convened a session to review efforts to increase community access to COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic testing (Ag RDT) services, drawing experiences from Nigeria and South Africa. A significant portion of the continent’s SARS-CoV-2 testing needs remain unmet. One key to closing this gap is a well-coordinated scale up of… Read More

LabCoP’s March 2022 ECHO session focused on generating demand for HIV viral load (VL) testing through targeted communications campaigns. For people living with HIV and on antiretroviral treatment, taking a VL test is essential in monitoring if the treatment is working. The World Health Organization recommends at least one annual VL test. Yet, knowledge around… Read More

The HIV Laboratory Waste Cost Assessment Framework (WCAF) is a tool to support laboratories with a standardised format for forecasting waste disposal costs for HIV viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID) to country level program managers for country operational plan (COP) planning. This tool was co-developed by US CDC and Roche Diagnostics under… Read More

On 8 December 2021 this special ECHO session was held to focus on the role of the Diagnostic Evidence Hub in accelerating uptake of diagnostic innovations. The Diagnostic Evidence Hub, launched in 2020 by the FASTER Project and hosted on the ASLM website, provides easy access to consolidated regulatory and performance data for test methods… Read More

On 4 November 2021, ASLM`s LabCoP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) sub-community of practice, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, convened a session focusing on monitoring country level viral load (VL) programs. Countries are putting in place robust systems to evaluate HIV VL programs to determine if set objectives, desired outcomes and impactful results are… Read More

On 28 October 2021 this Extended ECHO session focused on neglected tropical disease laboratories, their potential to act as effective reference labs with effective implementation of robust quality management systems (QMS) including external quality assessment (EQA) programs. Presentations were made by Dr Andreas Gilsdorf, Head, German Epidemic Preparedness Team SEEG), German Agency for International Cooperation… Read More

In September 2021 the World Health Organization released updated guidance on maintaining essential health services during COVID-19, which provides direction on modifications and specific measures for safe delivery of HIV services, and considerations for transition towards restoration and recovery. Surveys of 101 countries have revealed substantial disruptions across all major health areas with up to… Read More

Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) currently experience low testing coverage in the face of increasing demand to meet the needs of millions of people living with HIV, TB, HPV, hepatitis and other diseases. Therefore, innovative solutions are urgently needed to enable a robust, efficiently utilised testing capacity, and a healthy and secure market with competitive… Read More

LabCoP’s August 2021 ECHO session focused on sharing progress in HIV viral load (VL) monitoring among patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) from eight sub-Saharan Africa countries between 2013 and 2018. Monitoring of VL suppression at individual and population level is necessary to ensure achievement of global epidemic control. Despite significant challenges that hinder uptake in… Read More

On 15 July 2021 this Extended ECHO session was convened to discuss the WHO`s End TB Strategy that requires universal drug susceptibility testing and treatment of all tuberculosis case. Fewer than desired drug-resistant tuberculosis cases receive appropriate treatment due to either limited access to or sophisticated laboratory infrastructure needs. This webinar provided details on the… Read More

On 30 June 2021 this Extended ECHO session was convened to discuss the implementation of the Lateral-Flow Urine Lipoarabinomannan (LF-LAM) assay for the detection of active tuberculosis (TB) in people living with HIV.  The session provided an overview of current World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, practical considerations to increase uptake, LF-LAM inclusion within the package… Read More

LabCoP’s June 2021 ECHO session focussed on generating demand for HIV viral load (VL) testing through targeted communications campaigns. WHO recommends at least one annual VL test for each person on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) as this is essential in monitoring if treatment is working. Generally, knowledge around the importance of VL tests as… Read More

In June the ASLM LabCoP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) Sub-CoP held an ECHO session on viral load (VL) testing data quality assessment. The presentation provided an overview of the 2020 WHO-UNAIDS-PEPFAR-Global Fund module for assessing and strengthening the quality of VL testing data within HIV programmes and patient monitoring systems. Kenya shared their country’s VL… Read More

These guidelines, published by the World Health Organization, provide new and updated recommendations and good practice statements in the following areas: starting antiretroviral therapy (ART), including initiating treatment outside the clinic and support for same-day ART start; frequency of clinical visits and ART refills; measuring adherence; tracing and re-engagement in care for all populations; psychosocial… Read More

In May 2021 the ASLM LabCoP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) Sub-CoP held a session on data management, dashboards and connectivity solutions for HIV viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID). Presentations were made by Yonatan Gossaye Dessalegn, Senior Associate Software Developer on Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Global Laboratory Services Team; Kalechristos Abebe, IT… Read More

On 29 April, 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss tuberculosis (TB) and the COVID-19 pandemic. This panel discussion session was moderated by Rinuka Garde, Senior Advisor at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and included three renowned experts in the field of TB and general lung health, including: Lucica Ditu, Executive Director Stop… Read More

On 22 April 2021 ASLM’s LabCoP M&E Sub-community of practice held a south-to-south learning session during which the Uganda country team shared their experience in rolling out monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for viral load (VL) including virtual dashboards that allow for performance tracking at various administrative levels. The session covered key aspects of data… Read More

On 15 April, 2021, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the 13th session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Abbott Rapid Diagnostics and Beckman Coulter Inc. In this session, Dr Anna Ruzhanskaya, Scientific Marketing Manager, CISEE, Beckman Coulter and Dr Kuku Appiah, Director Medical and Scientific Affairs-Abbot, share with participants some new developments… Read More

On 7 April, 2021, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the 12th session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Thermo Fischer Scientific. This session also focussed on mutation and variant surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. Without a robust, coordinated universal effort to identify and characterize emerging variants, societies risk suffering significant setbacks in health care… Read More

On 1 April 2021, ASLM`s LabCoP M&E Sub-CoP, in collaboration with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis (DGHT) convened a session focusing on indicators for scale-up of viral load (VL) testing and program outcomes. Presentations were made by Nadia Solehdin, an epidemiologist, and Kat Sisler, an evaluation… Read More

This presentation by the Clinton Health Access Initiative outlines the steps of an integration implementation framework for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV diagnostics, and related diseases, top tips and caveats (what could go wrong and lessons learned) from pilot countries on each step and area of implementation. It provides a deeper understanding of activities required for… Read More

This presentation by the Clinton Health Access Initiative outlines the need for point-of-care (POC) testing, how integrated testing improves access to POC, the benefits of integration, and considerations and implementation framework for integrated testing.

The GX Capacity Utilisation Analysis Tool is an Excel-based tool to assess the capacity utilisation of GeneXpert platforms for integrating tuberculosis (TB), HIV, HCV and HPV testing. It has been used to identify platforms running with full-capacity and with un-used capacity to inform integration decisions in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and… Read More

The Integration Readiness Assessment Tool developed by Clinton Health Access Initiative and partners helps countries gather situation analysis information regarding an individual facility’s readiness to provide integrated testing for tuberculosis (TB), HIV and HPV. The assessment output of this MS Excel-based checklist allows for identification of sites where TB/HIV/HCV/HPV integration on the GeneXpert platform would… Read More

On 2 March 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss the African experience in expanding COVID-19 testing using Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests (Ag RDT). It has been over one year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO. There is still much concern that COVID-19 infections are increasing in some countries after several… Read More

The catalytic investment in point-of-care (POC), early-infant-diagnosis (EID), and viral-load (VL) technologies by the Accelerating Access to Innovative Point of Care HIV Diagnostics Project, implemented in partnership between UNICEF, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), ASLM, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and Unitaid, has shown significant results over the years. It has contributed to filling… Read More

On 18 February 2021, the LabCoP M&E Sub-Community of Practice held its second session that unpacked the fundamentals of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and its importance in viral load (VL) monitoring. The use of VL data is essential for patient-level and program-level decision making. VL data is often unavailable, delayed, or underutilised, hindering monitoring interventions… Read More

On 11 February 2021, ASLM, in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s International Laboratory Branch (CDC ILB) and partnership with Roche, hosted a webinar aimed at creating access to tools that will help laboratories improve their activities and services for viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID). The presentation provides… Read More

On 5 February 2021, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the first ECHO session of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) sub-community of practice. M&E assesses the performance of projects and programs set up by organizations to improve current and future outputs. A robust M&E system is critical to assess the performance of testing services and for decision making…. Read More

LabCoP’s January 2021 ECHO session covered PEPFAR’s Country Operational Plan 2021 and the laboratory systems strengthening priorities of the year. Dr George Alemnji, Senior Technical Advisor for PEPFAR Laboratory Services (OGAC), Washington DC, presented during the session. Please follow the links posted here to view the recorded video session on ASLM’s YouTube channel, and download… Read More

On 2 February, 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss expanding COVID-19 testing at schools, borders and at the workplace, in an effort to reopen economies. As many countries over the world are experiencing the second wave of COVID-19, forcing some to go back to stringent lockdown measures, countries are grappling with how… Read More

On 29 January 2021, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the 10th session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring BD (US) and DiaSorin (Italy). Laboratory diagnosis remains the cornerstone for the control of COVID 19. New diagnostic methods with higher sensitivity and specificity, as well as faster results, are necessary and are continuously… Read More

On 22 January, 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss testing strategies for COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDT) and Africa CDC’s testing guidelines and recommendations. The start of 2021 has seen new challenges arise in the COVID-19 pandemic, with rapidly growing spread and new virus variants. To urgently address this, the… Read More

In November 2020 the LabCoP stakeholders met online to convene the 2020 Face-to-Face virtual meeting. LabCoP’s 4th Annual Meeting aimed to assess the progress of LabCoP countries’ action plans and the outcome of ongoing interventions; discuss laboratory system strengthening across diseases through reviewing challenges and best practices in maintaining routine viral load (VL), early infant… Read More

ASLM and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) have produced a guide on how to develop and validate in-house RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2. This guidance is essential, particularly in settings with limited diagnostics, including low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where diagnostics are not immediately available during a pandemic. During the current COVID-19 pandemic the much… Read More

On 12 November 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss the launch of the SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid test training package developed by ASLM and Africa CDC, in partnership with CHAI, AFENET, AMREF, and Last Mile Health. The training package, available to all African Union Member States, aims to support the scale-up of SARS-CoV-2… Read More

ASLM in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Amref and Last Mile Health present the Quality Assurance Framework for SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Testing for Diagnosis of COVID-19. This framework aims to provide general technical guidance to African Union Members States on the… Read More

On 27 October 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss funding and procurement mechanisms for SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid tests. As countries prepare to roll out SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing, understanding funding and procurement mechanisms will be critical in ensuring countries have access to adequate rapid tests. Several countries are planning to secure antigen tests… Read More

On 23 October, 2020 ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the ninth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring STANDARD Q COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag RDT). A new global partnership by WHO, The Global Fund, UNITAID, Africa CDC, FIND and other partners ensures that low-priced, high-quality Ag RDTs are available internationally… Read More

On 21 October, 2020 ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the ninth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Abbott’s Panbio Ag RDT, an in-vitro diagnostic test for the qualitative detection of SAR-CoV-2 antigen. In this session, Dr Kuku Appiah, Director, Medical & Scientific Affairs, Africa, Abbott Rapid Diagnostics discuss the Abbott Panbio… Read More

On 14 October, 2020 ASLM’s LabCoP dedicated a special session to digital solutions in support of health care providers, systems, and stakeholders, and how they have been applicable to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is increasingly clear that adopting digital technology and integrating it into Ministries of Health (MoH) policy is key for smooth coordination and… Read More

On 9 October 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session and expert panel was convened to discuss what, why, and how the COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) can be rolled out for optimal clinical and public health outcomes in Africa. Ag RDTs are fast and easy-to-deploy diagnostic methods that take 10 – 15 minutes to… Read More

On 5 November, 2020 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss considerations of pooling specimens for testing by real-time RT-PCR. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection, also known as COVID-19 diagnosis, is performed using a molecular technique referred to as real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This has remained the method of… Read More

On 10 July 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the eighth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Roche Diagnostics International. Presentations were made by Dr Wim van der Helm, Head of Healthcare Development, Roche Diagnostics, Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Latin America, and Dr Matthias Strobl, Senior Clinical Science Leader, Infectious Diseases,… Read More

On 8 July 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the seventh session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring EUROIMMUN AG, and Hologic. The session covers: overview of available SARS-CoV-2 laboratory test kit(s) e.g., what genes are targeted; performance, run time and other technical considerations of SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostics; requirements/consumables not supplied with… Read More

In this paper, Kenneth Kintu, et al, investigated the virological suppression (achieving viral loads < 50 copies per mL) before giving birth with dolutegravir compared to efavirenz, when initiated during the third trimester. They found that dolutegravir was associated with higher rates of viral load reduction in pregnant women compared with efavirenz. Although both regimens… Read More

On 18 June 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the sixth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring PerkinElmer and Pro-Med. Stephanie Wilbraham, Market Development Manager, PerkinElmer, and Neil Barker, Co-Founder, Pro-Med Diagnostics, South Africa presented about the overview of their available SARS-CoV-2 laboratory test kit(s), performance, run time & other technical… Read More

On 11 June 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the fifth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring KH Medical and Inqaba Biotec. Dr Aron Abera, Technical Support Manager, Inqaba Biotec, South Africa; Dr Julius Muhumuza, Technical Advisor, KH Medical Co., Ltd.; Mr Adam Hong, CEO, KH Medical Co., Ltd.; and Dr… Read More

In July of 2019, the World Health Organization and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine organized a meeting with countries and key stakeholders in diagnostics to discuss and find concrete ways to improve and increase access to integrated multiplex technologies and determine how they can be translated into public health policy that impacts global impact.

On 28 May, 2020 ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the fourth session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Abbott. Presentations were made by Dr Claudio Galli, Associate Director, Medical Scientific Affairs Global, Abbott Core Laboratory, and Dr Liane Bauer, Director, Professional Services EMEA, Abbott Core Laboratory. They covered topics including detection of… Read More

On 20 May 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss procurement and the supply chain for COVID-19 diagnostics. Dr Lara Vojnov, Diagnostics Advisor at the World Health Organization, Geneva, and Dr Yenew Kebede, Head of Laboratory Services at Africa CDC presented about the need to coordinate and collaborate test availability and access; current… Read More

On 14 May 2020, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to assist the African laboratory community in designing and implementing an effective COVID-19 quality assured testing program. Mr Patrick Mateta, Vice President, Global Health Partnerships, at Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) presented about how to plan and prepare for COVID-19 testing, the selection and… Read More

On 8 May 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted part 2 of an ECHO session about COVID-19 serology tests. Serological diagnostic testing has been proposed to be useful in combination with molecular testing, in confirming COVID-19 infection or exposure to the virus. Serology tests also have the potential to be delivered in rapid format and at the… Read More

On 30 April 202, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the third session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Abbott and Bio-Rad. Dr Danijela Lucic, Senior Scientific Affairs Manager, Global Infectious Disease, Abbott Molecular, and Dr Marcus Neusser, EMEA Product Manager, Gene Expression, Bio-Rad, Germany, and Mr Richie Petronis, Product Manager, Bio-Rad, USA,… Read More

On 29 April 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted this ECHO session on strategies to implement fast turn-around laboratory testing for control of COVID-19, presented by Dr Trevor Peter, Senior Director, Diagnostic Services, Clinton Health Access Initiative. Nucleic acid testing is the WHO-recommended method for detecting SARS-CoV-2. The global scale-up of COVID-19 diagnostics will depend on use… Read More

On 24 April 2020, Professor Rosanna Peeling and colleagues from the International Diagnostics Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine pulled together evidence for and against the original set of recommendations for use of serologic tests. Prof Peeling was joined by Dr Yenew Kebede from Africa CDC and Dr Amadou Sall from… Read More

Laboratories need to conduct verification or validation studies to confirm that new tests for COVID-19 diagnosis perform as intended. In this document co-authored by ASLM, FIND and the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, further key requirements for quality assurance are defined, including quality control and external quality assessment that laboratories should follow to… Read More

LabCoP’s April ECHO session featured presentations about maintaining HIV and TB testing in the context of COVID-19 from Dr George Alemnji, Senior Technical Advisor for Laboratory Services at the State Department Office of Global AIDS Coordinator (SGAC) and Health Diplomacy, US CDC; Dr Lara Vojnov, Diagnostics Advisor, WHO; and Dr Dennis Falzon, Medical Officer, World… Read More

On 16 April 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the second session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools. Dr Davide Manissero, Chief Medical Officer of Infection and Immune Diagnostics at QIAGEN, and Mr Riegardt Johnson, Field Application Scientist at Thermo Fisher Scientific presented about their available COVID-19 laboratory test kit(s), their status regarding… Read More

On 14 April 2020, ASLM’s LabCoP hosted the first session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostics tools, including BD and Cepheid. Dr Charles Cooper, Global Vice President, Medical Affairs, Integrated Diagnostic Solutions at BD, and Ms Rujeko Tsomondo, Regional Application Lead at Cepheid presented about their available COVID-19 laboratory test kit(s), their… Read More

On 8 April 2020, ASLM and LabCoP convened a special ECHO session on lessons the African continent can learn from the Korean experience in controlling COVID-19 Dr Seon Kui Lee, Director, Division of Risk Assessment & International Cooperation at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), shared an overview of the KCDC and… Read More

Mozambique provided this Excel-based tool, with its accompanying instructions, as a country example of a comprehensive diagnostic network optimisation or mapping tool at the July 2019 Global Diagnostics Integration meeting in Geneva. The government sought a tool that could be: subnational, consider multiple potential technologies as well as both laboratory-based and point-of-care, incorporate testing across… Read More

Developed by the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) for its country teams and ministries of health, this tool can be used to assess the financial benefits of integrating tuberculosis (TB), HIV, and HCV testing on the GeneXpert machine. The tool only covers cross-cutting costs (i.e. not disease-specific) regarding the use of GeneXpert, such as equipment,… Read More

This paper by Yixuan Wang et al, 2020 summarises the latest literature on genetic, epidemiological, and clinical features of COVID-19 compared to SARS and MERS, and emphasises special measures on diagnosis and potential interventions. This review can improve our understanding of the unique features of COVID-19 and enhance our control measures in the future.

WHO has published interim guidance for laboratory testing for coronavirus disease COVID-19 in suspected human cases. It also describes safety procedures for specimen collection and testing from suspected cases and contacts. Suspect cases should be screened for the virus with nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), such as RT-PCR. Download the guide and read more.

On 30 March 2020, ASLM and LabCoP convened a special ECHO session on the latest available technology to diagnose COVID-19, and recommendations for clinical care and surveillance. Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, from the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), and Prof Rosanna Peeling, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, gave an overview of… Read More

On 25 March 2020, ASLM and LabCoP convened an ECHO session on troubleshooting common challenges associated with establishing diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 (the causative agent of COVID-19). Dr Jinal Bhiman, Director of the National Influenza Centre at the NICD, South Africa, presented practical solutions to address the most common challenges encountered by laboratory staff recently… Read More

The March 2020 waste management training session focused on Hologic’s Best Practices for Waste Handling. Todd Richmond of Hologic, shared his experiences, expertise and advice on the waste and contamination management of Hologic’s Panther. In collaboration with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the LabCoP community, the CDC International Laboratory Branch (ILB) offers… Read More

Pre-analytical challenges threaten the quality of viral load (VL) testing. This study determined the impact of delayed testing and warmer storage conditions on HIV RNA stability in diagnostic samples. Viral load in samples stored for up to a week reliably differentiated between patients with antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppression and ART failure in the majority of… Read More

Plasma preparation tubes (PPT) can simplify storage, transport, and preparation of plasma used for viral load (VL) testing. This systematic review evaluated the accuracy of PPTs for HIV VL testing. The results showed that following proper sample handling techniques helps provide accurate results. The authors thus recommended PPTs as a high-quality alternative specimen type for… Read More

This systematic review and meta-analysis summarizes evidence that shows that task shifting of testing using point-of-care technologies from laboratory professionals to non-laboratory staff was comparable to laboratory professionals operating the same technology in the laboratory. Task shifting of clinical tasks to lower cadres of health care workers and lay counselors has been successful in scaling… Read More

This paper by Jilian Sacks et al, 2019, presents a meta-analysis of studies comparing the Cepheid Xpert HIV-1 viral load (VL) plasma assay to traditional laboratory-based technologies. Cepheid Xpert HIV-1 VL plasma assay results were highly comparable to laboratory-based technologies with limited bias and high sensitivity and specificity to detect treatment failure. Alternative specimen types… Read More

This paper by Katherine Lamp et al, 2019, outlines an analysis of point-of-care (POC) CD4 invalid result rates across five countries. The authors found that the rate of invalid results was consistent across all types of health facilities, and the invalid rates were inversely correlated to operator usage, with high-volume operators. They concluded that POC… Read More

In this session, colleagues from Kenya shared findings from the assessment of waste handling practices in their viral load (VL) and Early infant diagnosis (EID) laboratories. They discussed contextual issues in regard to VL & EID laboratory testing capacity and networks, laboratory self-assessment using a VL & EID customized assessment checklist, findings/results, lessons learnt, challenges… Read More

These presentation slides are from the Women-Centered Diagnostics satellite session of the 2019 International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) that was jointly organized by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), UNICEF and Unitaid. Much has been done… Read More

To reach the third 90 of the UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets, country programmes must delve into their data and understand how they represent the quality of viral load (VL) testing services. This guide, published by WHO, presents key considerations and examples of tools (provided in the annexes) to assist countries in developing a national VL M&E… Read More

The November 2019 Waste Management training session focused on the perspectives of Abbott Laboratories’ Best Practices for Waste Handling. Delfin Rubin, Global Product Manager of HIV Care for Infectious Disease Emerging Markets at Abbott Rapid Diagnostics, and Ami Soni, EHS Lead for Abbott Molecular describe the constituents of their HIV rapid point-of-care diagnostics, such as… Read More

The purpose of this tool is to assist in identifying gaps and creating awareness of best practices for waste management processes in viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID) molecular testing laboratories (and associated healthcare facilities), in order to provide a starting point for assistance in waste mitigation strategies. This tool is for completion… Read More

In October 2019 the LabCoP stakeholders met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to convene the 2019 Face-to-Face meeting. It was co-convened by ASLM and the World Health Organization to enable countries to objectively assess their progress towards the improvement of the viral load testing (VLT) cascade, consolidate the implementation of interventions, enhance collaboration with civil society… Read More

Diagnostic network optimization is an exercise that aims to redesign the diagnostic network set-up in order to increase access, maximize impact, and generate efficiencies. It aligns testing demand and capacity in the most cost-effective way by defining the optimal instruments mix, identifying the most appropriate locations where instruments should be placed, and designing the referral… Read More

With limited funding for global health, identifying practical, cost and time-saving solutions, while also ensuring quality of care is increasingly important. One approach to increasing access to point-of-care (POC) testing is integrated testing (a term often used interchangeably with “multi-disease testing”), which tests for different conditions or diseases using the same diagnostic platform. This brief… Read More

Increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and treatment monitoring for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV is a priority for promoting health during the pregnancy and post-partum periods, and to minimize the risk of vertical transmission of HIV to infants. Point-of-care viral load (POC VL), which allows testing to be conducted at or near… Read More

Currently, about half of patients on antiretroviral treatment have access to viral load testing; however, access remains focused within a small number of countries. To date, routine HIV VL monitoring, which is considered the best method for monitoring antiretroviral treatment, has been fully implemented in only 68% of low- and middle-income countries, and partially implemented… Read More

This Waste Management session covered updates to the checklist for assessments of viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID) testing laboratories and associated healthcare facilities. David Bressler, MS, CBSP (SM) NRM of the International Laboratory Branch, CDC, Division of Global HIV and TB presented to the audience about the checklist/tool and its ability to… Read More

Integrating testing using multiplex technologies at the appropriate level of care can lead to more efficient and cost-effective testing services and can help to simplify and streamline other systems, such as specimen referral, human resources, and quality assurance. Integration should be a priority for both those countries with currently operational multi-disease testing devices and those… Read More

This Rapid Testing Continuous Quality Improvement (RTCQI) training video and competency assessment tool is available on a free virtual education platform, PEPconnect to assist ministries of health, health-care providers, and stakeholders in planning, implementing and sustaining quality assurance for point-of-care testing. Critical for the first of UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 targets, this platform is developed by the… Read More

In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended viral load (VL) monitoring as the gold standard for monitoring the effectiveness of antiviral therapy (ART). One of the key barriers to VL testing in resource-limited settings is the lack of efficient specimen transport systems, to allow plasma or whole blood samples to reach the testing laboratories… Read More

The Stronger Together public-private partnership between Siemens Healthineers and PEPFAR is institutionalising quality improvement via a free e-platform, PEPconnect, through this library of 48 videos (with a total viewing time of 14.5 hours) that capture the lectures from the 9-day classroom-based Quality Control and Method Validation course. The course is designed to enable the participants… Read More

Early infant diagnosis (EID) is critical for timely initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV-infected children who are at high risk of mortality. In recognition of the immense benefits of dried blood spot (DBS) as a means of increasing the access to EID, the World Health Organization (WHO), African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Centers for… Read More

This guide, published by The Laboratory African Regional Collaborative (LARC) project, provides continuous quality improvement methodologies and tools. LARC supports clinicians, laboratorians and data record units to work together and improve the proportion of viral load test results put in patients’ files. LARC is a useful tool that can be used by countries to address… Read More

In the May 2019 session, Dr Katrina Sleeman, Associate Service Fellow in the Viral Load/Early Infant Diagnosis Team at the CDC ILB introduced a draft of a viral load WM checklist tool that can be used as baseline audit of select country VL labs. The tool aims to assist in creating awareness of best practices… Read More

In collaboration with ASLM and the LabCoP community, the CDC International Laboratory Branch (ILB) presented an overview of the World Health Organization (WHO) Publication: ‘Safe Management of Wastes from Health-Care Activities’ during the second ECHO session dedicated to waste management. This document, developed by WHO in 2017, highlights the key aspects of safe healthcare waste… Read More

In collaboration with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the LabCoP community, the CDC International Laboratory Branch (ILB) presented the first session in a series of ECHO sessions dedicated to waste management. In this session we reviewed waste management practices at the country level using the responses to the November 2018 LabCoP Waste… Read More

Several new laboratory technologies are available or are being developed to allow for testing of different conditions using disease-specific tests on the same platform. For example, a single device may be able to test for the presence of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, and quantitatively measure HIV and hepatitis C viral load by using disease-specific reagents… Read More

This publication provides high-level guidance on implementing and scaling up HIV viral load (VL) testing programmes for health ministries and implementation partners, using a three-phased approach: (1) planning; (2) scale-up; and (3) sustainability. The guidelines for managing antiretroviral therapy (ART) issued by the World Health Organization have recognized the importance of viral load monitoring since… Read More

Representatives from the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), UNICEF and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) came together 17-18 August 2017 in New York City, United States, to  review progress to date on the implementation of a joint point-of-care project and to refine coordination mechanisms to achieve greater impact.   “This project has… Read More

Broadens access to HIV viral load monitoring On July 20, 2017, Cepheid received World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification for its Xpert® HIV-1 Viral Load (VL) test. The Xpert® HIV-1 VL test measures Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in human plasma from individuals infected with HIV-1 in less than 90 minutes. Measurement of blood… Read More