global health
Uganda’s newly constructed National Health Laboratory Services building
Uganda Launches Lab Network
Self-Assessments
by Martin R. Evans, PhD, CLT, MT (ASCP), laboratory consultant, APHL;
Kim Lewis, MSc, laboratory consultant, APHL; and Sally Liska, DrPH,
laboratory consultant, APHL
GHSA conference self-assessment team meeting in Kampala
GHSA Lab Network
Assessment Process
The GHSA Laboratory Network Assessment
process was developed collaboratively by APHL
and the African Society of Laboratory Medicine
(ASLM). The assessment tool, known as the
“scorecard,” complements the World Health
Organization GHSA Joint External Assessment,
which evaluates the full GHSA Action Package
addressing laboratory networks and systems. The
scorecard assigns laboratories a numerical maturity
level between 0 and 5 for each component within
nine core capabilities:
1. Political, legal, regulatory and financial framework
2. Structure and organization of the laboratory network
3. Coverage and Rapid Response
4. Laboratory Information
5. Infrastructure
6. Laboratory Workforce
7. Quality of Laboratory Services
8. Biosafety and Biosecurity
9. Priority Diseases
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
I
n May 2016, APHL laboratory consultants Kim Lewis, Sally Liska and Martin Evans facilitated
a Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Laboratory Network Assessment in Uganda. As
in other such GHSA assessments, Uganda voluntarily elected to conduct the assessment,
which involves an initial, paper self-assessment and an external field verification of findings
conducted by a team of laboratory consultants. Assessment results provide GHSA baseline data
and identify weaknesses and gaps in the Ugandan laboratory network and systems. The results
will inform updates to the country’s national laboratory strategic plan.
In Kampala, the team met with a broad cross-section of laboratory representatives—led by
Dr. Steven Aisu, director of the Central Public Health Laboratory—to review and verify selfassessment scores for each core capability. The meeting provided an opportunity for medical
laboratory professionals to meet with staff from Agriculture and other sectors critical to
understanding the interactions of the One Health model supported by the GHSA.
In addition, the APHL team spent several days visiting referral hospitals and clinic laboratories
to study the functionality of the tiered public health laboratory network and to verify previous
assessment scores. On the final day, the APHL team debriefed the in-country representatives
and delivered a written report to the director of Laboratory Servi