The Mérieux Foundation is committed to improving epidemic surveillance and the capacity to respond to potential epidemic threats by implementing and supporting RESAOLAB and related projects that share common goals.
The Mérieux Foundation is committed to improving epidemic surveillance and the capacity to respond to potential epidemic threats by implementing and supporting RESAOLAB and related projects that share common goals.
The REDISSE project in West Africa aims to improve disease surveillance in ECOWAS countries to prevent new outbreaks and other public health emergencies, and to provide an appropriate response when they occur. Intended as a continuation of the WARDS project, REDISSE is funded by the World Bank through the West African Health Organization (WAHO). The Mérieux Foundation has been given a mandate to strengthen laboratory capacity in surveillance centers throughout the sub-region.
The I-Lab project is one of the innovative initiatives the Mérieux Foundation is implementing through RESAOLAB. Launched in 2015 with the support of the Skoll Global Threats Fund and in partnership with Senegal’s National Laboratories Directorate and PATH, I-Lab is connecting all 100+ laboratories across the country through an electronic reporting system to identify potential epidemic threats.
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The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea highlighted the urgent need to improve the surveillance of diseases with epidemic potential and the country’s capacity to respond to epidemics. The Mérieux Foundation supports the LAB-NET project to bolster the country’s laboratory capacities. To date, more than 100 labs in the national network of Guinean laboratories have undergone quality assessments.
The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which provides funding as a partner of the RESAOLAB program, asked the Mérieux Foundation to work alongside the Ministry of Health to implement the LABOGUI project, which aims to strengthen Guinea’s national network of laboratories and renovate the School of Health.
In partnership with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), this project has made it possible to collect data and develop mapping of clinical laboratory capacity in Niger, thanks to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The overriding aim of this project is to strengthen access to quality clinical diagnostics in Niger by ensuring the long-term impact of RESAOLAB’s activities and results. Thanks to support from the Principality of Monaco, RELABNI will contribute to improving national strategy and efficient laboratory operations in Niger while strengthening regional cooperation in medical biology.
The G5 Sahel Biosecurity Network project is designed to improve capacities in five countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) in order to deliver an improved response to biological threats, in partnership with the German “Enable and Enhance Initiative” funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.
In partnership with the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and the German Development Bank (KFW), the PROALAB project contributes to improving the epidemiological surveillance network and laboratory systems in the ECOWAS region. It focuses on national and regional laboratories in four countries of the sub-region: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Niger.
With the support of the Principality of Monaco, the LABOMEDCAMP program helps ensure better medical care for people living in rural areas of Mali, especially mothers and children, through quality diagnostics and biological monitoring provided by first-line laboratories in physician-run community health centers.
The Bachelor of Applied Medical Science (BAMS) training in Mali was initiated in 2007 and enabled to train in 10 years biology laboratory technicians from various West African countries, such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. In total, 208 laboratory technicians passed the BAMS training, some of them thanks to a RESAOLAB scholarship.
Since 2019, BAMS Mali officially became a Master degree and was integrated to Bamako’s University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies curriculum. The course can be followed in initial and continuous training, during four semesters at the Charles Mérieux Center for Infectious Disease of Mali, in partnership with the École Supérieure de Biologie-Biochimie-Biotechnologies (ESTBB) of the Université Catholique of Lyon in France.