The launch of the next phase of the RESAOLAB program was announced at this meeting organized by the Minister of Health of Benin, Dorothée Akoko Kindé Gazard.
The plan for the program’s second phase was elaborated during a week of discussions involving 60 participants. It will feature on-site support and guidance for additional West African countries provided by experienced teams in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. At the request of health ministries from neighboring countries, the new phase of RESAOLAB will be launched on October 22, expanding the network to include Benin, Guinea, Niger and Togo.
Strong support from many partners
The program is made possible thanks to support from partners including the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Mérieux Foundation, who co-financed RESAOLAB’s first phase. For the second phase they will be joined by the Department of International Cooperation of Monaco, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Islamic Development Bank, which plan to contribute to funding the program. The total budget is €8 million. The World Health Organization (WHO), the West African Health Organization (OOAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) also collaborate with the program.
RESAOLAB is the first regional initiative to take into account all of the factors that affect the governance and performance of laboratories with a triple focus: promoting basic education and continuous training of laboratory personnel; ensuring quality management of the tests performed by laboratories; and supporting epidemiological surveillance.
Key achievements during the first phase
The first phase of RESAOLAB made it possible to run major continuing training programs, equip training and quality assurance laboratories, develop tools to support epidemiological surveillance programs and create a particularly active multi-country network. In 2013, over 300 public and private laboratories in the three initial countries belong to the network.