Who We Are
The African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) is an independent, international, not-for-profit organisation founded in March 2011 in Addis Ababa that coordinates, galvanises and mobilises relevant stakeholders at the local, national, and international levels to improve local access to world-class diagnostic services and ensure healthy African communities now and for the long-term. ASLM is the first pan-African society for laboratory professionals, endorsed by the African Union (AU) and supported by multiple African Ministers of Health through its Ministerial Call for Action.
ASLM Vision and Mission
Vision: A healthier Africa through access to quality laboratory services for all.
Mission: To improve clinical and public health outcomes in Africa by enhancing professional laboratory practice, science and networks.
ASLM Strategic Pillars
Based on the partnership and network centred approach, ASLM works on five functional pillars:
Laboratory Networks: Strengthen laboratory networks and systems to support the delivery of clinical and public health functions.
Laboratory Workforce: Strengthen the laboratory workforce in Africa.
Quality of Laboratory Services: Improve the quality of laboratory services towards accreditation based on national, regional and international standards.
Regulatory Systems: Promote and support harmonised national and regional regulatory systems for diagnostic products, technologies and services.
Communication & Knowledge Management: Strengthen data collection, analysis and sharing capacity, communication platforms and advocacy to promote the laboratory profession and contribute to evidence-based laboratory medicine in Africa.
ASLM serves the community of laboratory professionals, as well as networks of public health laboratories delivering clinical and public health functions in Africa. ASLM serves the global health agenda for the laboratory sector in Africa by supporting the efforts of Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The primary goal of ASLM is to promote the value of all medical laboratories and laboratory networks in Africa within all sectors including; Ministries of Heath, National Public Health Institutes, research laboratories, universities and other tertiary institutions, private medical laboratory sector, and National Laboratory Professional Associations as an essential resource to improve the overall health status of Africa. ASLM’s expertise includes, support for the development of specialised diagnostic technology, international accreditations, and quality assurance, a neutral convener of international conferences on critical issues, and fostering development of laboratory workforce programs to meet the growing needs of national laboratory systems.
ASLM strives to achieve its goals and objectives by coordinating and synergising partnerships, and advocating for and facilitating cost-effective interventions for laboratory strengthening. ASLM brings together programs, expertise, institutions and laboratory professionals to catalyse new initiatives and processes toward improved laboratory capacity on the continent.
Since its inception, ASLM has recognised the WHO Resolution AFR/RC58/R2 for strengthening public health laboratories in the African region and the 2008 Maputo Declaration on Strengthening of Laboratory Systems. ASLM has been working collaboratively with government, local and international organisations, implementing partners, and the private sector to advance medical laboratory capacity, in alignment with the priorities of WHO-AFRO, UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and large global health programs such as President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Following the evolution of the global health landscape, ASLM is also aligning its strategy with that of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and with the goals of the Global Health Security Agenda in support of the implementation of core capacities relevant to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) and the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Ministerial Call for Action
In December 2012, at the inaugural international conference of ASLM in Cape Town, South Africa, ASLM achieved an important step on the path to accomplishing their strategic vision goals. ASLM uniquely brought together African Ministers of Health to debate the challenges to laboratory workforce, regulation of diagnostics products and policies to govern accreditation. Together, the Ministers released an unprecedented Call for Action. ASLM has
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Chair of ASLM Board of Directors
Medical Microbiologist, scientist and researcher, co-founder of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and the Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) at IHVN. Professor of Medicine at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

Epidemiologist. Executive Director GHD/EMPHNET, Jordan

Secretary of ASLM Board of Directors
Medical doctor specialized in Internal Medicine and Haematology. Technical Director, Clinical and Diagnostics, Amref Health Africa Headquarters, Kenya

Senior Program Officer, Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA

Vice President, Global Health, Becton Dickinson, USA

Infectious Disease Epidemiologist. Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control

Public Health Specialist. Global Health Director, Association of Public Health Laboratories

Medical Laboratory Scientist. Vice President, Global Health Partnerships, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), USA

Economist. Executive Director, ISN Products, Nigeria

Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
Director, International Diagnostics Centre, United Kingdom

Public health and infectious disease expert. Senior Scientific Director, Diagnostics Services at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Botswana

Legal advocate; Corporate & Commercial Tax, Banking & Finance, Mozambique

Virologist and PhD in Public Health. CEO of Institute Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal.

Laboratory Scientist. Deputy Director, Laboratory Services, Ministry of Health, Zimbabwe

Professor Emeritus, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, USA

Professor of Virology, Educational Administrator, and former Vice Chancellor of Redeemer’s University College of Natural Sciences. Senior Fellow, African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) of the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria

Laboratory Scientist, Viral Epidemiologist. Senior Lecturer, Head of Chemical Pathology Department, and Laboratory Science Coordinator at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone

Attending Physician, Department of Medicine, Stroger Hospital of Cook County, USA
Independent Global Health Consultant, BH Global Consulting, USA

Senior Medical Specialist, (Ex-Officio), Zimbabwe

Director, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia

Public health professional. Senior Advisor, Laboratory Practice and Management, Association of Public Health Laboratories, USA