The  18th episode of Insights webinar  held on Wednesday 31st January 2024  focused on strengthening Public Health Laboratories for pandemic preparedness. The webinar featured seasoned professionals with immense expertise from within and outside the African continent.

In the course of the session our experts delved into the critical  roles of Laboratories especially as a reservoir of data for causes of all diseases and its centrality in providing the information or data that is responsible for determining the state of health of people in the community.  One key concern  raised is the need to enhance the communication between government departments within a country and international key team players.

In this vein, panelists called on  developing countries to ensure optimum utilization of Laboratory facilities and ensure deployment of appropriate equipment for proper data aggregation and management. This is because  some diseases need Laboratory data before they can critically be diagnosed. 

They further revealed that while the emergence of new media of communication has made data management easier, there is a need to  have a centralized system of gathering and storing data so that it can easily be accessed for any purpose.

To fully prepare our Laboratories for an emergency outbreak, panelists called for effective partnership with adequate financial investment and workable policies for optimum output.  The panelists also advised appropriate utilization of resources, timely diagnosis,  training of Laboratory personnels and most importantly, free flow of communication and information exchange across borders for early detection and quick response to outbreak.

Host

•   -Lucy Okoye - Manager Laboratory System at eHealth Africa

Panelists

• Mr Manason Rubainu -  Medical Laboratory Director, Peak Medical Laboratories Ltd, Rtd, Head of Laboratory Services University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, NLTWG Leadership

• Joanne Hassan -  Technical Coordinator, EPI Laboratory Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)

• Wayne Howard - Senior Medical Scientist, Centre for Vaccines and Immunology, National Institute  for Communicable Diseases NICD, Division of National Health Laboratory Services, Sandringham South Africa)