29th World Congress of Biomedical Laboratory Science

ASM Secretary Joseph Campos, International Affairs Director Lily Schuermann, and Senior Program Specialist Lyne´e Galley represented ASM at the 29th World Congress of Biomedical Laboratory Science, entitled "The Role of Biomedical Laboratory Science in Management of Global Health Burden with Emphasis on HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria," 6-10 June 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya.  The purpose of the congress was to promote excellence in biomedical science, enhance professional development, and provide networking opportunities in research, education, and business. It was held by the Association of Kenya Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers in conjunction with the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IFBLS), the international body representing all medical laboratory associations in the world; it was the first IFBLS congress to be held in Africa.

A comprehensive program that included plenary lectures, panel discussion, free papers, posters, and workshops, covered major disciplines in Biomedical Laboratory Science-Microbiology and Immunology; Management, Education, and Quality Assurance; Cellular Pathology and Molecular Biology; Clinical Chemistry; and Haematology and Transfusion Science. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global AIDS Program, administrator of ASM's cooperative agreement for building microbiology laboratory capacity, highlighted health systems strengthening efforts at key sessions throughout the meeting. An ASMsupported abstract, "Implementation of Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance in Botswana," was presented by Margaret Bafana, chief medical laboratory scientist, National Health Laboratory, Botswana.

ASM hosted a booth at the congress, providing extensive exposure of ASM's programs to attendees. Campos connected to not only a multitude of Kenyan students, laboratory technologists, and microbiologists, but also educators and representatives from other laboratory science associations. "I was extremely impressed by the high level of interest in ASM programs expressed by the East African microbiologists who attended the Congress. Many expressed their intention to take advantage of the free membership available to residents of economically disadvantaged countries," noted Campos.

The ASM team had the opportunity to visit the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), where ASM Ambassador Samuel Kariuki is based as the director of the Center for Microbiology Research (CMR). They were welcomed by Solomon Mpoke, acting director, KEMRI, and Willie Sang, CMR, who provided an overview of the institute and a tour of the facilities. Sara Mangoli, head of library services, hosted a visit to the ASM Resource Center, situated in the KEMRI library, where ASM's donated resources- books, journals, and equipment to access ASM's Global Outreach Program- are showcased. As KEMRI is the leader in microbiology research in the region, the meeting focused on KEMRI's programs, activities, and opportunities for students to boost laboratory resources.

A meeting with another collaborator, Joseph Oundo, of the Global Disease Detection (GDD) Division, CDC, Kenya, and laboratory resident advisor of its Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), led to the introduction of Campos and Schuermann to the latest FELTP class. This program has graduated students from many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and southern Sudan. Campos spoke on the importance of utilizing references in their work, citing ASM resources as an example.

A visit to the Central Microbiology Reference Laboratory (CMRL) demonstrated the results of ASM support via the International Laboratory Capacity Building (LabCap) Program. ASM is supporting the establishment of CMRL's core functions and technical capacity as they work towards World Health Organization Regional Office for African accreditation.

Development of this publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U2GPS001947-01 from the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP), Global AIDS Program (GAP). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.

Meeting on Laboratory Accreditation in Resource-Limited Settings

ASM International Laboratory Capacity Building (LabCap) Committee Chair Steven Specter represented ASM at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-organized meeting entitled "Towards Laboratory Accreditation in Resource-Limited Countries: a Progress Report and Strategy Sharing Meeting," 9-10 June 2010 in Kampala, Uganda. Other participants included representatives from several African countries' Ministries of Health, U.S. government agencies, the World Bank, the African Field Epidemiology Network, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the other CDC cooperative agreement partners-the Association of Public Health Laboratories, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

The meeting served as a forum to discuss countries' experiences implementing Strengthening Laboratory Management Towards Accreditation (SLMTA) training, as well as progress achieved with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa stepwise accreditation scheme. Several countries represented at the meeting have already begun SLMTA and the accreditation process and presented their efforts. Group discussions provided input for revised accreditation implementation guidelines. ASM and the other CDC cooperative agreement partners also had the opportunity to offer their perspectives on building local capacity.

At the close of the meeting, the participants put forward the "Kampala Statement for the Creation of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine," promoting the development of indigenous capacity for sustainability of laboratory strengthening efforts. The society would serve as a professional body to guide laboratory network development and strengthen efforts in Africa, facilitate and engender south-south and north-south collaborations and resource mobilization, develop and guide the process of certification of laboratory medicine training, work with WHO and others to develop and implement laboratory policies and guidelines in Africa, provide sustained advocacy for the laboratory profession at the highest levels within countries and internationally, organize an annual meeting for laboratory medicine practitioners, strengthen existing laboratory professional associations and societies and their development where none exist, coordinate the development and certification of laboratory medicine continuing education, and establish a peer-reviewed journal in laboratory medicine in Africa. The partners represented at the meeting, including ASM, will work together to further this initiative.

Development of this publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U2GPS001947-01 from the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP), Global AIDS Program (GAP). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.