This joint meeting of two major initiatives for healthcare capacity building addressed national and regional issues related to biomedical laboratories, the development of harmonized laboratory policies and the improvement of surveillance of epidemic-prone diseases.

The 3rd RESAOLAB International Steering Committee meeting and 1st regional workshop on laboratory capacity building of the WARDS (West African Regional Disease Surveillance) project were held at the Grand Hotel in Niamey. Representatives of the ministries of health of the 15 ECOWAS member and of key program partners (including WAHO, l’Agence Française de Développement, International Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco, and the Mérieux Foundation) and the RESAOLAB Program Coordinator attended the meeting.

Foundation stone for the Health Laboratories Directorate

The foundation stone for the future Health Laboratories Directorate was laid on November 11 during a ceremony officiated by the Minister of Public Health. The new building will house an external quality assessment unit. Continuous training centers for laboratory technicians are being built thanks to funding from the RESAOLAB program.

In response to the Ebola virus disease epidemic, the West African countries decided to establish an efficient system for epidemiological surveillance to rapidly transmit reliable data to health authorities, which must rely on laboratory data that is collected even from remote regions.

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