BD/PEPFAR Lab-Strengthening Initiative Marks Progress in Fight Against HIV/AIDS and TB in Sub-Saha...(llaboration with BD is supporting the de...),Health

Under a lab management training program in Uganda, a total of 94 healthcare workers have participated in a series of training sessions where they received instruction on a broad range of topics relating to quality management in laboratory settings. This program was developed and implemented in collaboration with Infectious Diseases Institute, Supply Chain Management System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Uganda Ministry of Health.

Over the course of the training period, overall lab worker test scores increased from an average of 35 percent prior to training to 88 percent, representing a 151 percent improvement.

In addition, Uganda's National TB Reference Laboratory is working with BD and CDC-Uganda to use Global Positioning System/Global Information System (GPS/GIS) technology to ensure that TB specimens -- often collected in remote areas -- arrive promptly at reference labs for processing. The technology maps multiple laboratory sites with the goal of developing a transportation network, while monitoring specific improvements within targeted laboratories. To date, more than 200 samples have been referred through this innovative specimen management initiative.

In South Africa, 22 microbiologists -- representing healthcare systems in Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa -- participated in ten-day courses to improve their ability to detect and identify mycobacterium TB. The training was conducted by CDC, BD, and other training partners. The course, entitled "TB Culture and Identification," was held at the African Centre for Integrated Lab Training in Johannesburg.

As part of the curriculum, the microbiologists were introduced to liquid cu
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