LabCoP is led by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the technical support from ICAP at Columbia University, and Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico. 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.

Strengthening Laboratory Systems and Networks: Better Data for Better Action

ASLM 2023 Annual meeting | December 2023

Read the meeting report here

LabCoP Resource Library

This new resource library is full of tools, guidance, information and best practices from countries across Africa and global health organisations, to help readers scale up a variety of laboratory and diagnostics capabilities. Please browse through LabCoP’s Cookbook of Best Practices, ECHO session archives, LabCoP Newsletters, and topical resources of specific interest here. 

ASLM’s Resource Center

This is designed to help you keep up with the latest tool kits, regulations, guides and other information published by ASLM, partners, and global health regulatory bodies. Check the centre to locate the information you need.

LabCoP takes on COVID-19 in new video

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency in 2020, ASLM's LabCoP has used its network to join the fight and embolden the medical laboratory response across Africa. Watch the video here.

 Special COVID-19 ECHO Sessions

  • COVID-19 ECHO SESSION #53: Unveiling the Global Fund Project Stellar: Strengthening COVID-19 Diagnostic and Laboratory Systems Investments in Africa through Partnerships
  • COVID-19 ECHO Session #52: Efforts to Increase Access to COVID-19 Ag RDT: Nigeria and South Africa Experiences: On 15 March 2022, ASLM’s LabCoP convened a session to review efforts to increase community access to COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic testing (Ag RDT) services, drawing experiences from Nigeria and South Africa. A significant portion of the continent’s SARS-CoV-2 testing needs remain unmet.
  • COVID-19 ECHO Session #51: External Quality Assessment for SARS-CoV-2 and Other Emerging Viruses: On 10 March 2022, ASLM’s LabCoP convened a session on external quality assessment (EQA) for SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging viruses. EQA is a vital tool that provides objective evidence on the credibility of reporting test results, and labs are required to use it to monitor their performance.
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #50: On 10 Feb 2022, ASLM held this ECHO session to cover genomic surveillance for SARS-COV-2 in Africa by Africa CDC’s Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI). This initiative, a continental program launched in October 2020, aims to establish pathogen genomics and bioinformatics capacity in support of disease surveillance.
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #49: On 16 September 2021, ASLM hosted another session in our series on manufacturers of COVID-19 diagnostics products. This session featured Siemens Healthineers and Thermo Fisher Scientific. The session focussed on innovations in SARS-CoV-2 to handle detection and surveillance of the fast-emerging variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI) that have implications on viral… Read More
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #48: On 9 September 2021, this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss the evolving role of diagnostics in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Testing, when used effectively, is one critical tool that supports control of any disease outbreak including the COVID-19 pandemic. Swift case identification and contact tracing inevitably prevent further disease transmission. Researchers have worked… Read More
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #46:  On 2 September 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to share details on the COVIOS antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag RDT) technology, status of regulatory approval, requirements/consumables to operate the test, and how Ag RDTs can be deployed to support testing programmes for COVID-19 epidemic control. COVIOS, developed by the Global Access Diagnostics, a… Read More 
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #45:  On 8 July 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss the perspective of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in leveraging on existing HIV community engagement to respond to COVID-19 challenges and opportunities. In this session, two CSOs, The National Forum for People living with HIV&AIDS Networks in Uganda (NAFOPHANO) and The Zimbabwe National Network for People Living with HIV (ZNPP+) shared their experiences in using existing platforms for community engagement to respond to the pandemic. Read more
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #44: On 13 May 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss a series of case studies on country experiences regarding the design and implementation of digital tools to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was compiled by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in collaboration with ministries of health and government partners. The goal was to promote knowledge exchange and highlight learnings and tools that might be useful to other countries interested in improving their digital systems for COVID-19 response. Read more
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #43: On 29 April, 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss tuberculosis (TB) and the COVID-19 pandemic. This panel discussion session was moderated by Rinuka Garde, Senior Advisor at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and included three renowned experts in the field of TB and general lung health, including: Lucica Ditu, Executive Director Stop… Read More
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #42: On 15 April, 2021, ASLM hosted the 13th session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Abbott Rapid Diagnostics and Beckman Coulter Inc. In this session, Dr Anna Ruzhanskaya, Scientific Marketing Manager, CISEE, Beckman Coulter and Dr Kuku Appiah, Director Medical and Scientific Affairs-Abbot, share with participants some new developments in… Read More
  • May 2021 LabCoP Extended ECHO Session: The Global Fund COVID-19 Response Mechanism: On 25 March 2021, this Extended ECHO session was convened to discuss the Global Fund COVID-19 funding mechanism, an opportunity for countries to request funds to strengthen their health systems in response while mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on other essential health services including HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. An innovative tool was discussed, that… Read More
  • Special COVID-19 Session #41: On 8 April, 2021 this COVID-19 ECHO session was convened to discuss the Africa CDC Trusted Travel Platform and how to create a ‘Trusted Network’ of COVID-19 testing laboratories in Africa. To support the reopening of boarders and economies without risking disease spread, Africa CDC and partners are championing the concept of Trusted Travel and… Read More
  • Special COVID-19 ECHO Session #40: On 7 April, 2021, ASLM hosted the 12th session in a series about manufacturers of COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tools, featuring Thermo Fischer Scientific. This session also focussed on mutation and variant surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. Without a robust, coordinated universal effort to identify and characterize emerging variants, societies risk suffering significant setbacks in health care and… Read More

 

LabCoP’s Cookbook of Best Practices!

ASLM is pleased to introduce LabCoP’s Cookbook of Best Practices! This series of recipes, consisting of considerations and best practices, will cover a variety of topics along the viral load cascade.  These recipes are the result of south-to-south information sharing of country teams across Africa that participate in ASLM’s LabCoP and monthly ECHO Sessions.

More Resources

  • The GeneXpert Capacity Utilisation Analysis Tool: The GX Capacity Utilisation Analysis Tool is an Excel-based tool to assess the capacity utilisation of GeneXpert platforms for integrating tuberculosis (TB), HIV, HCV and HPV testing. It has been used to identify platforms running with full-capacity and with un-used capacity to inform integration decisions in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and… Read More
  • Integration Readiness Assessment Tool: The Integration Readiness Assessment Tool is a checklist to evaluate and help select the sites in a country where tuberculosis (TB)/HIV/HCV/HPV integration on the GeneXpert platform would be most feasible.
  • Quality Assurance Framework for SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Testing for Diagnosis of COVID-19: ASLM in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Amref and Last Mile Health present the Quality Assurance Framework for SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Testing for Diagnosis of COVID-19. This framework aims to provide general technical guidance to African Union Members States on the… Read More
  • Multiplexing Analysis Tool: Mozambique provided this Excel-based tool, with its accompanying instructions, as a country example of a comprehensive diagnostic network optimization or mapping tool at the July 2019 Global Diagnostics Integration meeting in Geneva. The government sought a tool that could be: subnational, consider multiple potential technologies as well as both laboratory-based and point-of-care, incorporate testing across… Read More
  • Diagnostic Pricing Database: Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) currently experience low testing coverage in the face of increasing demand to meet the needs of millions of people living with HIV, TB, HPV, hepatitis and other diseases. Therefore, innovative solutions are urgently needed to enable a robust, efficiently utilised testing capacity, and a healthy and secure market with competitive… Read More