News Articles

Integration of Tiered Networks within Public Health Institutes: The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) Experience In the last decade, Ethiopia has achieved numerous public health successes, among them early attainment of health-related Millennium Development Goals, a strong tuberculosis (TB) management programme, and progress toward eradication of Guinea worm disease [1-3]. Many of these successes are… Read More

The Results Are In: How a National Sample and Results Transport Network is Improving Patient Care in Uganda Two of the greatest challenges a laboratory network faces when tackling high-risk global health security threats is the safe transportation of a potentially bio-hazardous specimen and the length of the waiting process for test results. To combat… Read More

Tuberculosis: Meeting a Target, Aiming for a Milestone Improving diagnostics to achieve the 90-90-90 TB global targets A person who is not diagnosed with a disease cannot be treated; this is true for many diseases, and is especially of consequence for tuberculosis (TB) patients. Estimates indicate that 50-70% of those with active TB disease would… Read More

An Intrepid New Approach to Global Health Threats ASLM Works to Address Global Health Security in Africa Imagine a world in which country health systems are able to promptly prevent, detect, and respond to global health threats. Imagine the rapid containment of outbreak threats like Ebola and the elimination of pandemics like HIV/AIDS. In a… Read More

The High Stakes of Fighting Zika: the Virus Challenging Public Health Systems In what is now an international effort to quell the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus disease, the stakes are all too high. Since the virus was first isolated in 1952 within the Zika forest near Entebbe, Uganda, confirmed cases of the disease have been rare… Read More

Leading Minds in HIV and Infection Control to Share Research Findings at CROI Conference While significant progress has been made in the last few years to curb HIV in sub-Saharan Africa via the expansion of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and viral load testing in resource-limited settings, it would be a mistake to assume there is not… Read More

Prioritising the “Silent Killer”: Africa Must Leverage HIV/AIDS Response Lessons to Confront Cancer The world has changed significantly in the time since the emergence of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. The international HIV/AIDS response has prevented 8 million deaths and 30 million new infections since 2000, and many of the worst-affected countries have managed to cease—and… Read More

Fostering Quality Laboratory Networks through Accreditation in Togo The Role of Public Health Institutes in Achieving Public Health Goals ASLM recently sat down with Dr. Abiba Kere Banla, Director of the Togo National Institute of Hygiene (Institut Nationale d’Hygiène – INH) in Lomé, to discuss the Institute’s push to assure quality and achieve accreditation. The… Read More

A Revitalised Laboratory Declaration to Forge a Path for Action The Ebola epidemic brings to the forefront the imperative to reinforce healthcare and laboratory systems, which has resulted in national governments taking critical steps to close the vulnerabilities in these systems. In light of the challenges uncovered in the outbreak response, how can governments effectively… Read More

Combatting Drug Resistance in Africa New stepwise framework aims to provide guidance for establishing sustainable surveillance programmes Once an ignored threat, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – commonly known as drug resistance – has become an international priority (see ASLM’s previous article). Drug resistance impacts public health in a profound manner, leading to negative outcomes for patients… Read More