As in many developing countries, Kenya’s network of public health laboratories-- over 600 in Kenya’s case--perform only the most basic tests with more advanced testing performed in national central laboratories. Also similar to other developing countries, the public health laboratory network is challenged by a severe lack of resources; a limited workforce including too few experienced managers, inadequate equipment and information technology, poorly maintained facilities and a weak quality management system.
Fortunately, the system has just received a big boost.
APHL, together with partners at the African Medical and Research Foundation, CDC Kenya and Atlanta, and the US Agency for International Development, have assisted Kenya in the development of a five-year, national strategic plan to strengthen laboratory services throughout the country. US funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) also will provide partial support for the plan’s implementation.
Lucy Maryogo-Robinson, manager of APHL’s Global Health Program, said, “APHL helped develop the strategic plan with the entire public health system considered. What we’re trying to do is to get those PEPFAR dollars to work double duty; to strengthen the laboratory infrastructure, if you will. This certainly has a positive effect on HIV, but goes way beyond that.”
The head of Kenya’s National Public Health Laboratory Services, Jack Nyamongo, noted that the newly developed plan is of “critical” importance as it identifies service and resource gaps and provides a roadmap for the “mobilization and equitable distribution of resources” in step with national priorities. Thus, donor funding is more likely to go where it can do the most good, and more donors will be inclined to contribute.
Since roughly one of every 14 adults in Kenya is infected with HIV, rapid diagnosis and testing to inform treatment decisions are of national importance to curb disease transmission and to keep the infected healthy for as long as possible.
The strategic plan, said Ralph Timperi, APHL’s senior advisor for laboratory practice and management and Global Health Program director, “is the foundation to provide access for all Kenyans to quality laboratory testing, a proven cost-effective service for better health.” The results of the planning process, he said, “are not reference manuals left on a shelf, but living documents that guide major decisions that chart the national course to improved health.”
Getting high-quality laboratory services to those who need them takes the deliberate, focused effort and coordination of numerous stakeholders. It requires objective advisors who understand laboratory science and laboratory management inside out. And this is exactly where APHL excels.
APHL is involved in similar strategic planning efforts in other developing countries, including Cote d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Vietnam.