Presentation of the 15th NMFP meeting held on 13-14 October 2016 in Stockholm

1. Update on WHO
laboratory
strengthening
initiatives
Dr Pamela Hepple
Technical officer/Laboratory Specialist
Better Labs for Better Health initiative
WHO Regional Office for Europe
13 October 2016
ECDC, Stockholm

2. Presentation overview
• Better Labs for Better Health: overview
• Training courses and tools for laboratory quality systems
implementation
• Mentoring project: activities and potential for collaboration
• Update on WHO Regional Committee technical briefing on
health laboratory strengthening
• BLBH Partners meeting, Georgia, 01-02 December

3. Better Labs for Better Health benefits all labs
Coordinated 3-pronged approach founded on policies and
international standards (ISO) and guided by Health 2020
principles
1. National laboratory policies
and strategic plans
2. Improve national training
programs and implement
quality management systems
3. Upgrade critical infrastructure
(teaching laboratories, national
EQA programs, maintenance
and metrology units)

4. Rationale: Why a new initiative was needed
• Current initiatives benefit mainly
“disease-specific” programs
• Services can be fragmented,
duplicated, lack standards and
oversight
• Poor quality and safety
• No initiative aimed at
improvement of whole lab
system
• Quality assured labs create trust
and contribute to IHR (2005)

5. Goal
Improve health by providing timely
and accurate laboratory results
from accredited labs that are
trusted by the user

6. http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Health-systems/laboratory-services/quality-tools-and-training
and
Approach: Improve national training programs and
implement quality management systems

8. Laboratory Quality Management System training toolkit (LQMS)/
Laboratory Quality Stepwise Implementation tool (LQSI)
• LQSI training designed
to implement LQMS
toolkit
• 135 laboratory
managers from 24
countries in eastern and
south eastern Europe
trained since August
2014

9. LQSI training and mentoring
• Mentoring using LQSI tool for
LQMS implementation
• Mentors are laboratory quality
officers from ISO 15189-accredited
laboratories who support national
laboratories to implement LQMS
During visits mentors can answer
questions, help develop action
plans, perform external audits and
provide training
First mentoring mission, St. Petersburg

10. Biorisk management training
• Integral to LQMS and incorporated
in quality training
• WHO has developed several tools
and training courses in biosafety and
biosecurity:
– WHO laboratory biosafety manual
– training of trainers course in biorisk
management (BRM)
– Infectious Substances Shipment
Training (ISST)
– Film demonstrating safe practices in
different laboratory settings
• Training on BRM and ISST
conducted in ARM, GEO, KGZ,
MNE, TJK & UZB

11. Mentors
• Twenty mentors trained in since
September 2015
• Advanced Mentors Course
conducted in August 2016 for 7
active QMS mentors:
– Exchange of experiences
– Discussed improvements to the
programme and indicators
– Training on technical aspects e.g.
change management, auditing,
ensuring follow-up of plans, etc.
Mentor training workshop, Copenhagen

12. Better Labs for Better Health
• Begun end of 2015
• 4 laboratories have
been mentored
• MAT, TJK and LTU
visits planned before
end 2016
The mentoring project
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
KGZ CQ KGZ RDC RUS LMV RUS Vector MAT MDH

13. WHO Regional Committee technical briefing on health
laboratory strengthening, 14 September 2016
• Objective: advocacy for importance of
laboratory strengthening in the Region
• Presentation of the Better Labs for Better
Health initiative.
• The Russian Federation and Sweden
reported on their initiatives to improve
laboratory capacity to provide quick, reliable
results and their cooperation in making their
expertise available to other countries.
• Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reported on their
progress in improving laboratory quality,
through the Better Labs for Better Health
initiative.
WHO Technical briefing, September 2016

14. BLBH Partners Meeting, Tbilisi, Georgia
Objectives
• Present results of “Better Labs for Better
Health” initiative
• Bring WHO guidance, tools and teaching
curricula in the area of laboratory quality and
laboratory system strengthening to the
attention of a wide audience
• Identify best practice models for public health
laboratory systems
• Provide a forum for countries to share
expertise
• Enhance interactions between countries,
partners and donors
WHO, EU, Member States, and external partners
invited

15. http://www.euro.who.int/en/heal
th-topics/Health-
systems/laboratory-services

16. Acknowledgements
KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
UZBEKISTAN
Royal Tropical Institute
ECDC, US CDC, Global Fund/UNDP, USAID, Project HOPE, Fondation Mérieux, Public
Health England, Robert Koch Institute, Gauting Supranational Reference Laboratory for TB
Photos: WHO

17. Thank you for your attention
This work is supported by the European Union (European Commission's Directorate-General for
International Cooperation and Development) as part of the project on strengthening health laboratories
to minimize potential biological risks (contract IFS/2013/332312)
Funding was also received under:
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ)
• The Netherlands partnership programme on antimicrobial resistance
• The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework
• The Russian Federation funding on the implementation of the IHR
• The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention