African Society for Laboratory Medicine
The African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), is a pan‐African professional body working to advocate for the critical role and needs of laboratory medicine and networks throughout Africa. The Global Health Network, and Global Health Laboratories specifically, are very proud to be working with ASLM to improve laboratory capacity in Africa.
ASLM celebrates its 10th Anniversary
Laboratory services, networks and systems are indispensable to effective health systems. Medical laboratories play a pivotal role in global disease diagnosis, surveillance, outbreak investigation, initiation and monitoring of therapy, as well as research and development. Most medical laboratories in Africa are unfortunately underdeveloped and cannot meet the testing demands of rapidly growing health delivery services in the 21st century. Inadequate resources and diagnostic services compromise the quality of patient care due to misdiagnosis and consequent under/over treatment of disease which presents significant economic and public health challenges. Recognising the World Health Organization (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 addresses these challenges by working collaboratively with governments, local and international organisations, implementing partners, and the private sector to achieve the following goals by 2020:
- Strengthening laboratory workforce by training and certifying laboratory professionals and clinicians through standardised frameworks
- Transforming laboratory testing quality by enrolling laboratories in quality improvement programmes to achieve accreditation by international standards
- Developing strong, harmonised regulatory systems for diagnostic products as defined by the Global Harmonization Taskforce
- Building a network of national public health reference laboratories to improve early disease detection and collaborative research
Historical movement toward accreditation and improved laboratory systems has gained significant momentum in the past few years throughout Africa and amongst the international community. Through the ASLM2020 strategic vision, ASLM aims to maintain such momentum.
MAAP
What Is MAAP?
The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) is a multi-organization and multi-national consortium led by ASLM, and funded by the UK Government’s Fleming Fund that focuses on the response to the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with the goal of improving laboratory capacity and diagnosis, as well as data and surveillance of AMR through a ‘One Health’ approach.
MAAP Country Reports
The Mapping Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use Partnership (MAAP) project has conducted a multi-year, multi-country study that provides stark insights on the under-reported depth of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis across Africa and lays out urgent policy recommendations to address the emergency.
MAAP reviewed 819,584 AMR records from 2016-2019, from 205 laboratories across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. MAAP also reviewed data from 327 hospital and community pharmacies and 16 national-level AMC datasets.
LabCoP
LabCoP fosters a knowledge exchange and joint learning by linking together country teams and global experts, and sharing the knowledge and best practices of viral load scale up and lab systems strengthening amongst ministries of health.
CoLTeP
In May, ASLM, in collaboration with regional and international partners and African Union member states, launched the COVID-19 Laboratory Testing Certification Program (CoLTeP) for facilities conducting COVID-19 testing.
Free SARS-CoV-2 Ag RDT e-Learning Course
In September, ASLM and partners Africa CDC, CHAI, and Last Mile Health, launched the COVID-19 Ag RDT training e-learning course. Hosted online through the ASLM Academy, the course allows free and flexible self-learning that enables healthcare service providers to train and acquire knowledge and skills for safely and correctly using SARS-CoV-2 Ag RDTs to diagnose COVID-19. Learners who complete the training are awarded certificates of completion. Learn more here.
FREE ASLM Online Courses
- Enroll here for the COVID-19 Diagnostics and Testing MOOC developed by ASLM, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and FIND.
- Enroll here for the Laboratory Training for COVID-19 Molecular Testing MOOC developed by ASLM and FIND
ASLM is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and serves all African countries. It is endorsed by the African Union.
