Countries

In 2008, APHL’s global health department worked with Miami Dade College (MDC) and its medical technology faculty to develop and teach an intensive, three-month course in medical laboratory science for 12 biologists from Mozambique. The program was a resounding success, leading APHL and MDC to formalize the relationship through a Memorandum of Agreement in February 2009.

MDC will continue to provide assistance to the Mozambique students, three of whom are currently in Miami for a hands-on training in clinical chemistry and hematology. In Mozambique in March, MDC faculty taught a one-week course in the basic principles of quality assurance and quality control. Aimed at bench-level technologists and recent medical technology school graduates, the training was met with great enthusiasm.  Another course is planned for the fall of 2009.

MDC has a large Haitian student and alumni population, so the APHL/MDC collaboration is a good fit for laboratory improvement projects in Haiti as well. APHL will work with MDC to provide assistance with training, curriculum development and standardization for the medical technology programs.

APHL coordinated a Laboratory Management Workshop in Nammacha, Mozambique, in October 2007, using exercises and workshop material specifically designed and selected for staff at multiple levels of the laboratory system. Presented entirely in Portuguese, thirty-five managers and supervisors from the provinces of Pemba, Tete, Quelimane, Maputo City, Inhambane, Xia-Xia, Gaza, Linchinga and Beira participated.

The workshop introduced basic managerial concepts and methods using practical exercises and role playing. Participants gained practical skills in analyzing, enhancing and improving health laboratory management and developed insight into methods for future planning.

APHL along with representatives from the Mozambique Ministry of Health, and the Public Health Laboratory Network; which is an Australasian collaborative microbiology group; facilitated sessions covering modules from the APHL curriculum including:

• Communication
• Organizational Structure
• Inventory Control
• Leadership and Supervision
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Strategic Planning
• Quality Management

The workshop also provided a forum for networking. Participants exchanged insights and lessons learned.

Related to this Laboratory Management Workshop APHL implemented a pilot Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) in Mozambique to support treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. The system links instruments for CD4, hematology and biochemistry testing to the laboratory database.