Africa Regional Laboratory Networks: Perspective on Emerging Disease Threats

Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Time: 17:00 – 18:30
Location: Kano

Session Overview:
Background: The Regional Public Health Laboratory System (RPHLS) brings together national and regional reference laboratories to form a network, which are linked by shared goals of control, prevention, or elimination of diseases. A reference laboratory system provides a coordinated and essential laboratory services and enhances its role of providing infection control with timely detection, signalling early warning of health risks, compiling data to solve outbreak investigations and contributing to prevention through disease or health risk surveillance.  One of the key roles is to provide a leadership in promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease through timely disease detection and confirmation, emergency preparedness, and research findings to prevent or monitor mortality patterns resulting from interactions between people, animals, and their environment.

However implementation of effective and functional regional laboratory networks needs to solve the following challenges:  how to implement biosecurity and biosafety procedures within the network?  What are the key factors that determine the establishment of national and regional sample transportation systems, including during outbreaks?  How to implement harmonized regional laboratory data sharing platforms? How to ensure the sustainability of laboratory services?

Session objectives:  The objective of the round table is to share experiences and present innovative strategies for strengthening regional laboratory capacity for early detection of emerging diseases.  Each panel member will present briefly on experiences and lessons learned with respect to the thematic areas. The panel and audience will then embark on a discussion about best practices for improvement of regional laboratory capacity.

  • EDCTP Experience in Establishing Regional Research Networks
    • Moses Bockarie, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, South Africa
  • Regional Data Sharing Platforms
    • Ousmane Faye, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal
  • Establishment of Material Transfer Agreement: Challenges and Perspectives
    • Odile Missi Oukem, Fondation Merieux, Mali
  • Establishing the Regional Integrated Surveillance Laboratory Network (RISLNET)
    • Benjamin Djoudalbaye, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia
  •  Co-Conveners:
    • Abdourahmane Sow
      • West African Health Organisation, Burkina Faso
    • Moses Bockarie
      • European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, South Africa
  •  Speakers
    • Ousmane Faye
      • Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal
    • Odile Missi Oukem
      • Fondation Merieux, Mali
    • Benjamin Djoudalbaye
      • Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia