International Partnerships for UHC and Preparedness

Date: Thursday, 13 December 2018
Time: 13:30 – 15:00
Location: Benue/Plateau

Session Overview:
Background:  Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and preparedness for outbreak response are critical to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UHC aims at providing quality health services to all individuals and communities without suffering financial hardship. Universal access to health services addressing the most important causes of disease and death is key not only to individual patient health, but also to the prompt identification and prevention of epidemics and outbreaks.

Reaching out to vulnerable populations and communities everywhere, and ensuring that epidemics are detected early requires optimal coverage, affordability, and reliability of essential laboratory diagnostics across entire national laboratory networks, and across borders. Advancing UHC and outbreak preparedness requires a robust interface between clinical and public health laboratories, the establishment of adequate national and regional coordination and partnerships, as well as relevant frameworks that can guide efforts towards the control and prevention of essential diseases.

Objective:  This symposium will highlight the importance of governance, partnerships, and guidelines ensuring functional national and regional laboratory systems effectively support UHC and outbreak preparedness.

  • Outbreak Preparedness and Timely Response: the Role of the Africa CDC Regional Collaborating Centre
    • Marguerite Massinga Loembe, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Gabon
  • The Construction of an Inter-Country Laboratory Network: Challenges and Prospects of the RESAOLAB Program in West Africa
    • Gilles Adjane, Fondation Merieux, Togo
  • The WHO Essential Diagnostics in Support: a Tool to Support Universal Health Coverage
    • Lee Schroeder, University of Michigan, United States
  • Leveraging South-to-South Knowledge-Sharing to Strengthen Laboratory Systems: the Laboratory Systems Strengthening Community of Practice (LabCoP)
    • Pascale Ondoa, African Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Netherlands
  •  Co-Conveners:
    • Benjamin Djoudalbaye
      • Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia
    • Amha Kebede
      • African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Ethiopia
  •  Speakers
    • Marguerite Massinga Loembe
      • Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Gabon
    • Gilles Adjane
      • Fondation Merieux, Togo
    • Lee Schroeder
      • University of Michigan, United States
    • Pascale Ondoa
      • African Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Netherlands