This LabCoP DNO SubCoP ECHO session shares the experiences and journey towards utilizing the LabMap data to support disease detection, surveillance and response.

The 1998 WHO-AFRO Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy aims to strengthen the African Region’s public health surveillance and response systems to address the emergence and re-emergence of diseases. In 2022, the Africa CDC further identified 18 priority diseases to guide member states build their capacity to detect outbreaks, establish robust surveillance system and response to the outbreak. Public health laboratories provide essential services including disease and outbreak detection, emergency response, environmental monitoring and disease surveillance. In 2018, ASLM in partnership with Africa CDC introduced GIS Laboratory mapping program to map the existing national laboratory capacities and use the findings to strengthen the capacities of the national public and regional public health laboratories systems and networks. To date, around 5200+ clinical and public health laboratories have been mapped.

In this session, Zambia and Burundi Ministry of Health shares their experiences on how they have and continue to use the LabMap data to identify availability of testing capacity and gaps for specific diseases in the one health approach context, review the existing laboratory systems, network and surveillance system’s capacities to ensure quality and timeliness of diagnostic results, and how this informs and operationalize the government disease surveillance and response in the context of emerging and re-emerging disease outbreaks.https://youtu.be/5gaU5TOtV-g