global health
Strengthening the PHL System:
Twinning in Botswana
By Susan Madison-Antenucci, PhD, director, Parasitology, Wadsworth Center, New York State
Department of Health and Sherrie Staley, MPH, manager, Global Health
“Twinning” is the building of a long-term relationship between a US public
health laboratory and a partner in a low-middle income country to provide
mentorship, generate sustainability and use global networking to improve
public health systems.
Botswana’s Ministry of Health (MOH)
is transitioning their National Health
Laboratory to a National Public Health
Laboratory (PHL) under the newly
formed Botswana Public Health Institute
(BPHI). To assist with the transition,
APHL and the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s National Public
Health Institute (NPHI) have linked
MOH with the NY State Department of
Public Health’s Wadsworth Center.
The twinning partnership kicked off
in 2017 with APHL and Wadsworth
staff visiting Botswana, learning about
their public health system and visiting
public health and hospital laboratories.
Three members of BPHI and the head of
microbiology for the public hospital in
Gaborone were able to visit Wadsworth,
including all of the microbiology
sections and the newborn screening
laboratory. They met and learned
from a number of experts during their
visit, including the center’s director,
members of the Division of Laboratory
Quality, and a state epidemiologist.
They also visited the microbiology
laboratory at Albany Medical Center.
(from l to r:) Susan Madison-Antenucci, Sherrie Staley, Patricia Munyadzwe, Tefelo Thela, Kereng Mphoyakgosi, and Margaret
Mokomane. Photo: Wadsworth Center
As the details of BPHI and the new PHL
continue to be fleshed out, Wadsworth has
helped to inform the process by sharing
information such as their reportable
diseases list, test menu, laboratory
standards, personnel qualifications,
organizational charts and SOPs. Botswana
has had great success with HIV testing
and treatment and aims to build on
this success to reduce the incidence
of malaria and intestinal infections.
Moving forward, Botswana scientists
hope to host an emergency preparedness
expert and schedule a longer visit to
Wadsworth for an in-depth review of the
Institute’s operations. In the meantime,
contacts are sharing information
by email. This promising twinning
partnership is off to a strong start. n
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
Patricia Munyadzwe and Tefelo Thela from Botswana
MOH learning from expert at Wadsworth during a twinning
exchange visit. Photo: Wadsworth Center
Susan Madison-Antenucci visits Botswana Ministry of
Health Laboratories
APHL.org
Winter 2018 LAB MATTERS
17