Archive for the 'Global Health' category

My Global Experience as a Public Health Microbiologist

Apr 25 2013 :: Published in Global Health

By Sally Liska, DrPH

Being a public health microbiologist can mean more than just working at the lab bench helping diagnose communicable diseases or being involved in public health outbreak investigations.  There are many opportunities available.  One activity I particularly enjoy is teaching and mentoring clinical laboratorians in developing countries.  And now retired, I have more time to do this rewarding work.  Sharing my knowledge – something we in the field call “technology transfer” – with a willing group of lab personnel can be very uplifting.  To feel their enthusiasm, see their progress and receive their sincere thanks is truly heart-warming.

Sally Liska -- Global Health Consultant

For the past five years I’ve participated in about 12 laboratory management workshops in several African countries including Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia.  You never know what to expect during the training session; each class of laboratorians is different.   Are they going to be shy and reserved, as we lab folks tend to be, or are they going to be an enthusiastic bunch wanting to share their knowledge with their colleagues?   Will we have to draw them out to participate, or rein in their many comments and questions?  Of course they are always courteous and receptive during the presentations but blossom during the small group exercises where they take center stage.   Through group exercises, role-playing and presentation they get the opportunity to interact with their colleagues about the real-life situations they face.  For many participants, there is that special moment when they see themselves as important and integral parts of the health care system of their country; and to be there to witness that is truly special!  Throughout the week they network with their colleagues, forming bonds that last long past the end of the workshop.

Although we may differ in culture, age or mother tongue, we share many of the same issues of constantly striving to improve the quality of our work, gain recognition for our profession and do what’s best for our clients.

Being a public health laboratorian means not just doing what you know, but sharing it as well; I’ve been fortunate to experience that.   And teaching is a wonderful opportunity to do this on a close-encounters basis.

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Getting to Zero: Lab Scientists Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa

Dec 01 2012 :: Published in Global Health

By APHL Global Health Program

Over three decades have passed since the words “HIV” and “AIDS” became part of our everyday lexicon. Though we have yet to reach the United Nations’ goal of zero new HIV infections, we have come far since the onset of the pandemic thanks, in part, to the drive and dedication of public health professionals.

Among them is a cadre of professionals whose contributions often go unnoticed: public health laboratory scientists. From Addis Ababa to Johannesburg, these laboratory experts work with APHL’s Global Health Program to realize the association’s vision of a healthier world through quality laboratory practice. They build laboratory diagnostics and reporting capability, hone the skills of laboratory technicians, foster the growth of effective laboratory managers, and chart the direction of national laboratory systems in collaboration with ministry of health officials, to name a few of their many functions.  Below are introductions to a few of these public health laboratory champions.

Emmaculate Agolla, APHL’s “field champion” in Kenya, works to ensure that laboratory information systems (LIS) function effectively to deliver lab data and test results. Her laboratory colleagues respect her ability to troubleshoot systems and interconnect LIS components, skills that are in short supply in her country.

APHL is fortunate to have two Bob’s supporting its LIS initiatives in Africa. Bob Bostrom is an LIS veteran who has traveled the continent to implement LIS. Bob shifts between LIS vendors and African cultures with ease, assisting with review of RFPs, selection of vendors and system implementation. He assumes responsibility for activities ranging from laboratory assessments to support and review of LIS implementation processes.

Bob Sokolow is APHL’s paper-based LIS expert.  He has helped numerous countries to evaluate their paper-based reporting systems, and develop more effective, standardized forms for sample entry.  The result is improved consistency and accuracy of laboratory data.

Brett Staib, the association’s database guru, has assisted several countries to design databases for more efficient management and reporting of lab data. His efforts have led to improved access to health information by health care providers and ministries of health.

Solon Kidane, APHL’s field consultant in Mozambique, collaborates with the country’s ministry of health and other agencies to strengthen laboratory capacity. Always, one to go above and beyond, he serves as a master trainer for CDC’s step-wise laboratory accreditation program, Strengthening Medical Laboratories towards Accreditation (SLMTA), and provides training in laboratory leadership and management.

Isatta Wurie has done it all — strategic planning, training, renovating and commissioning labs, networking with ministries of health, and mentoring of laboratory staff. She tackles this work in the two countries under her charge and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.  She is a force to be reckoned with among those building quality laboratory systems to combat HIV/AIDS.

“Queen of Laboratory Quality” Kim Lewis has worked throughout sub-Saharan Africa as a master trainer and technical advisor to ministry of health laboratories.  Recently, she coordinated LIS implementation in Lesotho, a small country located within the borders of South Africa that has been devastated by AIDS. Ever-patient, Kim ensures that project deliverables are on time and of the highest quality.

Ralph Timperi, APHL senior advisor for Laboratory Practice and Management, shares his expertise in in laboratory science and practice, both global and domestic, with APHL staff and consultants.  A former state laboratory director, university instructor and chair of APHL’s Global Health Committee, Ralph is highly respected for his expertise by partner countries. His achievements include renovation of two laboratories in Mozambique, design of laboratory training curricula, and crafting of strategic plans and guidance documents in collaboration with ministries of health and CDC in-country offices.

The contributions of these laboratory scientists remind us that it is possible to effect positive change in the world even when the ultimate goal is as difficult to attain as an HIV incidence of zero.

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Japanese and US Public Health Labs: Not So Far Apart

May 30 2012 :: Published in Annual Meeting, Global Health

By Jody DeVoll, Director of Strategic Communications, APHL

The distance between the US mainland and Japan is over 6,800 miles (close to 11,000 kilometers), so you might assume that their public health laboratory systems would differ markedly. In fact, the similarities are striking, as I learned from members of the Association of Public Health Institutes of Local Governments in Japan who attended APHL’s annual meeting in Seattle, May 20-23. They included:

  • Kunihisa Kozawa, MD, PhD, president, Association of Public Health Institutes of Local Governments in Japan and director, Gunma Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences
  • Komei Shirabe, MD, PhD, director, Yamaguchi Prefectural Institute of Public Health and the Environment
  • Yoshimasa Yamamoto, PhD, director general, Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health
  • and Toshio Kishimoto, MD, PhD, general manager, Okayama Prefectural Institute for Environmental Science and Public Health.

The Association of Public Health Institutes of Local Governments in Japan has 79 members, including 47 prefectural institutes and 17 ordinance-designated city laboratories. The prefectural institutes, which correspond roughly to our state public health laboratories, serve as the central public health reference laboratories within their respective jurisdictions. Two-thirds of them conduct both public health and environmental testing either as a single institution or as two, co-located laboratories.

Map of Local Public Health Labs in JapanOver a glass of beer in the hotel lounge, we exchanged reports on the status of governmental health laboratories. Below are several notable points, including several comments that could have been overheard in a US public health laboratory:

One Lab = One Lab: Laboratorians in the US often joke, “If you’ve seen one public health laboratory, you’ve seen one public health laboratory.” In Japan, there is wide variation in size and capability among institutes, making it difficult to coordinate among them.

What is a Public Health Lab?: Governors of prefectures and local government officials generally do not understand the value and function of the laboratories serving their jurisdiction. Federal officials tend to be better informed about the laboratories’ role in protecting public health.

Limited Resources: The global recession has led to cuts in funding for Japan’s governmental laboratories, which are challenged to maintain staffing, programs and technical proficiency.  Association members assert that centralization and/or sharing of laboratory services would trim costs and ensure the overall viability of the laboratory system. Yet government officials aim to preserve broad testing capability within their respective jurisdictions. In Osaka, there are proposals pending to consolidate the two city institutes with the institute serving the prefecture. If this consolidation is approved, it would be the first of its kind.

Training & Money: Many institutes lack the expertise to train young technical staff and have no budget to send them to outside courses. In response, the association has organized a central training program in bacteriology. Government leaders, members say, do not understand how difficult it is to acquire the technical skills required for complex testing.

Lab Leadership: Japan’s baby boomers are rapidly exiting laboratories at the mandatory retirement age of 60, and there are no mid-level scientists ready to succeed them. Young professionals do not have the experience to assume senior leadership roles.

Food Testing: Japan’s institutes are responsible for daily testing of seafood and other staples in compliance with the country’s stringent food safety standards. Any contamination is immediately reported to public health authorities who remove the product from the market. Some US leaders have proposed that public health laboratories expand their limited role in food testing as part of broader efforts to strengthen the food safety system in this country. Perhaps US labs will one day look to their Japanese counterparts as models in this area of laboratory practice.

As we got up to leave, I discovered that Dr. Kishimoto is an accomplished musician who plays and composes for the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute. According to his colleagues, he is only moonlighting as the general manager of a prefectural institute. You can listen to this multi-talented laboratorian perform and be as impressed as I was.

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One World. One Health… and the Vector at Our Back Door

May 20 2012 :: Published in Annual Meeting, Environmental Health, Food Safety, Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Systems and Standards, Newborn Screening and Genetics, Partners, Public Health Preparedness & Response, Public Policy

You don’t have to explain to public health laboratorians that the health of humans, animals and the environment are inextricably linked. HIV/AIDS, SARS, 2009 H1N1, West Nile Virus: laboratorians know the inner workings of these enterprising pathogens that travel (from jungle, field or suburban neighborhood, etc.) to animal hosts (chimpanzees, bats, birds, field mice, etc.) and on to us.

One World One HealthAnd they know that more of these smart bugs are coming our way. Population growth, climate change, deforestation, diminishing species diversity and changes in land use are all interfering with established patterns of interaction among people, animals and the environment. Vectors that were once in a distant forest are now at our back door. Already the majority of emerging infectious diseases affecting humans (approximately 75%) are of animal origin.

This dynamic has broad implications for public health as well as human medicine, veterinary medicine and environmental science. In a world where the interface between animals, humans and the environmental is in flux, it’s perilous for health and science professionals of any stripe to operate in professional silos. To protect the health of all species, those of us in public health must join with our colleagues in veterinary science, human medicine and environmental science to adopt a holistic approach to disease surveillance, detection and control. To put it simply, we must be about one health, not several.

At the 2012 APHL Annual Meeting, “one health” will be center stage. Participants will have the opportunity to meet leaders in the One Health movement – including James Hughes, MD; Lisa Conti, DVM, MPH; and Terry McElwain, DVM, PhD – and discuss actions required to operationalize One Health objectives. Here are a few questions to get you started with these discussions. How can we:

  • Expand and improve national and global surveillance networks, particularly those that capture the animal-human interface?
  • Enhance sentinel event coordination to detect and reduce environmental health threats?
  • Build efficient global reporting and sample submission systems to support surveillance systems?
  • Communicate the benefits of investment in surveillance? (Too often disease surveillance is viewed as an old-school public health function, one that’s not sexy enough to warrant sustained investment.)
  • More effectively employ animals as sentinels for human health—and humans as sentinels for animal disease risk?

For an introduction to the “one health” concept, see the websites of the One Health Initiative and CDC’s One Health Office.

And a parting thought: When was the last time you took your state veterinarian or your colleague in environmental science to lunch? It’s a small step, but remember: One Health is collaborative; you can split the check.

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Using Technology to Combat HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

Apr 25 2012 :: Published in Global Health

This week is National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week and National Environmental Laboratory Professionals Week.  APHL is honoring the many individuals working public health and environmental laboratories around the world.  Stay tuned for blog posts this week featuring the work of many of those unsung heroes working to protect the public’s health.
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Computerized information systems make work easier in many fields, including laboratory practice. But can a laboratory information system (LIS) help make a dent in one of the world’s worst HIV epidemics?

Laboratory and health experts in the Kingdom of Swaziland are betting the answer is yes.

Swaziland, a geographically small, landlocked nation bordering South Africa and Mozambique, has been home to human inhabitants since at least the early Stone Age 200,000 years ago. Today, however, the country’s population of 1.2 million is seriously threatened by the highest HIV prevalence rate on the African continent. An estimated one of every four adults is infected with HIV, and many of those are co-infected with TB or multi-drug resistant TB, both of which are also highly prevalent.

Swaziland

Health experts know that HIV prevention, education, testing, counseling and treatment programs are essential to reverse such a daunting public health crisis. Swaziland has responded with a campaign to reduce HIV transmission by circumcising HIV-negative men aged 15-49, and with greatly increased access to testing at voluntary counseling and testing centers and other Ministry of Health (MOH) laboratories. Yet these efforts have been complicated and slowed by reliance on paper-based systems.

Marie-Claire Rowlinson, PhD, a former senior APHL global health specialist, said an electronic LIS “is important for quality of testing and therefore for the quality of patient services.” She continued, “It enables laboratory technicians to test samples more efficiently and with fewer errors in the testing process. For example, because the LIS is integrated with testing instruments, there are fewer manual transcription errors, and quality control procedures can be monitored more easily.”

All of this has a positive impact on testing quality, speed and volume. Technicians are able to spend more time generating potentially life-saving test results, rather than entering data by hand. And the test data can be retrieved in seconds.

Rowlinson added, “A common issue for the labs in Swaziland is that patients will get the same test two days in a row when they only need one, which wastes much needed resources. With a paper-based system, it is much harder to track what tests a patient is getting, but with an electronic LIS this can be monitored.”

Fortunately, the advantages of electronic information management will be coming to Swaziland Ministry of Health (MOH) laboratories soon. APHL completed a laboratory assessment in Swaziland last year and is assisting the MOH with development of an LIS strategic plan for the country. Previously APHL helped MOH stakeholders in the selection of an LIS software vendor.

In 2012, the new electronic LIS system will be installed in the national reference laboratory, the Mbabane Government Hospital National Reference Laboratory, and five other MOH laboratories. It is hoped that the new LIS system will eventually be installed in all 18 MOH laboratories, and the current stand-alone systems made interoperable to enable real-time data exchange.

“In addition to improving quality and expanding test volume, the LIS can be used to centralize data and support MOH decision making,” said Ralph Timperi, MPH, a senior advisor for laboratory practice and management at APHL. He explained, “You can put personnel data on a central database so you can see where your technicians are, their ages and education. You can determine whether you need to provide training for people in one location or if key people are nearing retirement.” He added, “You can store supply information and equipment information, so you know: Where is the equipment? How old is it? An LIS gives you the ability to accurately keep track of things in real time. That’s a very helpful thing.”

In the end, said Timperi, it all comes down to one critical trade-off that can indeed make a difference in a HIV epidemic:  “Putting out quality test results versus moving paper.”

 

Other Lab Week blog posts: 

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Social Media As a Tool for Real Time Tracking of Diseases?

Oct 13 2011 :: Published in Global Health, Infectious Diseases

By Sikha Singh, MHS, Senior Specialist, Laboratory Response Network

Recently CNN.com featured an article titled Using social media for disease surveillance, providing examples of real life breakouts that demonstrate how the internet has fundamentally changed global health surveillance.  Epidemic intelligence, says the author John Brownstein, flows not only through government hierarchies but also through informal channels, ranging from press reports to blogs to chat rooms to analyses of Web searches.  Social media outlets promote real-time reporting, accessible almost anywhere to users with internet-capable devices.  Twitter users, for example, tweet first hand information that has the potential to provide a wealth of information to groups that monitor trends in social media activity.  The downside of self-reporting, however, is that false information may generate widespread misperceptions.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University have adapted a model that can rapidly comb millions of public twitter messages to identify up-to-the-minute trends.  Initial studies have revealed patterns in self-medication for illnesses that don’t typically require a visit to the doctor.  For example, Twitter users reported using Tylenol or Advil for pain relief and Claritin or Zyrtec for allergies.

Google Flu Trends, a website that maps flu activity around the world based on data from Google searches, is another demonstration of how information expressed in web searches enables extraction of social and health trends.  Additionally, the web resource called HealthMap offers real-time, contextualized information on health events both local and distant.

It is undeniable that social media is an emerging tool that plays an increasing role in alerting the public to what is happening in the world.  Consider the vast reach of social media: if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s fourth largest, behind only China, India and the United States.   What are the public health surveillance and disease tracking implications of self-reporting through social media?  Will health agencies increase their reliance on ubiquitous social media outlets for disseminating vital health information?

I wonder how Facebook feels about the potential for capturing, synthesizing and analyzing the information generated from the chatter of its over 800 million active users.  Can social media services capitalize on their wide reach to promote public health campaigns?  Will self-reporting in the form of tweets and status updates ever truly benefit epidemiological investigations by offering accurate and reliable data?   Maybe the masterminds (ahem, Mr. Zuckerberg) behind some of the most popular social media services will answer these questions.  Calls for comment to Facebook headquarters were not returned. (Or made).

To learn more about APHL and its social media activities please connect with us on our Blog, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, join us on LinkedIn and watch us on YouTube.

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APHL Assists Haiti to Rebuild Devastated Lab System

Jul 22 2010 :: Published in Global Health, Partners

On January 12, 2010 tragedy struck in Haiti. A massive earthquake rocked the tiny national, particularly Port-au-Prince, causing damage and destruction that will take years to repair.

One of the buildings severely damaged in the earthquake was the public health laboratory. Deemed unsafe for use, laboratory operations moved to a tent erected outside of L’Hôpital de l’Université d’État d’Haïti (HUEH). Since the earthquake, the number of patients being treated at HUEH has tripled from 14,000 per month to almost 42,000 thus increasing demands for laboratory testing. Due to extremely high temperatures and no air conditioning in the tent, automated testing requiring cooler temperatures, such as hematology and blood chemistry, are being run manually. The result is that the current testing capacity is only 25% of the daily demand.

Following the earthquake, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested and authorized APHL Senior Technical Consultant and Team Leader for the APHL Haiti Field Laboratory Support Team, Dave Doherty, to assist all of the public health network laboratories in Haiti in getting testing services back up and running to support the enormous demands for medical care and treatment

Upon learning of the dire needs in the tent laboratory, Doherty sought out to find an air conditioner that would help keep the tent at the appropriate temperature. Before he knew it, a casual conversation with a Doctors Without Borders volunteer led him to International Relief Solutions (IRS), a Georgia based company that creates modular buildings in areas of need. The APHL Haiti Field Laboratory Support Team led by Doherty provided technical assistance to IRS in planning and design of a new modular laboratory facility to will replace the temporary tent facility.

The 24’ by 36’ modular laboratory will stand next to HUEH. The facility is designed with infrastructure for work benches, heating, ventilation, plumbing and electrical services. With direct hookup to electrical and water supplies, the laboratory building will have the air conditioning necessary to meet the requirements of the many intricate and delicate tests that the laboratory technicians on scene perform routinely. The lab will arrive with the electrical system and plumbing pre-installed allowing for a quick start-to-finish set up of approximately four days.

Better lab facilities will improve testing services and will enable laboratory technologists to get back to work. According to Doherty, “Many well-trained technologists in Haiti are unable to work and provide testing services because of the loss of laboratory facilities to earthquake damage.”

It could be years before the permanent structures are rebuilt; the new modular lab serves as a long term solution. This initiative was a success due to the collaboration of willing and committed partners, each of whom brought essential resources and expertise to assure an effective solution for meeting a critical need in Haiti. Lives will be saved and illnesses treated effectively because of the efforts of APHL, IRS and CDC. Doherty modestly explains, “We were able to come through. APHL has always come through in Haiti.”

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Rebuilding Haiti’s Labs: Governance, Policies and Systems Before Bricks and Mortar

Apr 20 2010 :: Published in Global Health

At a March 31 United Nations special session on rebuilding Haiti, countries responded with pledges of significant funding for the decimated nation; however, funding alone will not rebuild Haiti, and certainly not its battered laboratories.

First, Haitian leaders must find the courage and commitment to confront corruption and inefficiency within their government. Without a fundamental shift from opportunism to public service, donors will not be willing to sustain the long—and costly—process of recovery.

Photo: A typical lab in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Second, the international donor community must adopt new operational models that are less dependent on the services of ex-patriots. Good models are available. Paul Farmer at Partners in Health and Jean William Pape at GHESKIO/ Weill Cornell Medical College, for example, have shown that impoverished communities with few resources can combat diseases and improve health care. Their approach—like that of APHL’s project in Haiti—is to build long-term partnerships with local groups and to help train their doctors and healthcare professionals.

Third, Haiti’s laboratories need to be reconceived and rebuilt as part of an integrated national laboratory network operated under a strong quality management system. A precursor to this is development and implementation of a revised national laboratory policy and strategic plan to guide the orchestration of the necessary resources, including a trained and competent workforce.

Yet the reality at the moment is that there isn’t a comprehensive and forceful Haitian laboratory policy, strategic plan or network, only the commitment of the country’s national laboratory to forge a true laboratory system and support from some non-governmental organizations. How can APHL best support development of a nationwide laboratory system that will serve all of Haiti’s people? We look forward to your comments.

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National Public Health Week — APHL Honors Public Health Laboratories

Apr 08 2010 :: Published in Environmental Health, Food Safety, General, Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Newborn Screening and Genetics, Public Health Preparedness & Response

By Mary Shaffran, Senior Director, Public Health Programs, APHL

Along with our partners, the public health laboratories are working to keep communities healthy. Laboratorians work behind the scenes. Public health laboratories serve as the nation’s early warning system for diseases and other health hazards. When health risks emerge or re-emerge, public health laboratories analyze the threat, provide the answers needed to mount an effective response and act to protect the public in collaboration with other decision makers. They protect our health by monitoring continuously for diseases and other health hazards.

Just a few of the things that laboratories are doing every day to make sure that you and your neighbors are healthy:

- Public health laboratories in every state are the backbone of our nation’s infectious disease surveillance networks. They are analyzing infectious diseases such as influenza to determine if they are changing and reporting this information to public health officials so they can determine effective prevention measures. [More on the Infectious Disease Program]

- More than 11,000 babies are screened daily for potentially life-threatening genetic and congenital disorders

  • Matt and Noelle Bamonte discovered that their seemingly healthy baby boy had PKU, a serious disorder that can cause brain damage if not treated from a very early age. Noelle is certain that without laboratory screening, her little boy would have been vastly different. Now, aside from a strict diet, he lives a normal life! [More of their story]

- Public health laboratorians confirm whether people are infected with sexually transmitted diseases, and confidentially report back the results so that people can be treated and others are not exposed. [More on the Sexually Transmitted Disease Program]

- In order to detect foodborne outbreaks and ultimately keep Americans safe from foodborne disease, public health laboratorians test human specimens and food samples for bacteria such as Salmonella and E. Coli.

  • In 2006, the New Mexico public health laboratory pinpointed the exact source of the E. Coli that made its way into spinach and made hundreds of people sick. [More on the E.Coli outbreak]

- Public health laboratorians test environmental, clinical and food samples to determine whether they contain hazardous agents in order to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, and they are able to do this 24/7.

  • California scientists are collecting specimens from 2,000 people to test for the presence toxins used in used in industry, agriculture and the home. They’ll use this information to explore such things as the connection between exposure and diseases, and to examine changes in exposure over time and the connection to changing health policies and industry regulations working to reduce exposure. [More on the work in California]

- Public health laboratorians test water samples in flood-ravaged areas to ensure that the water is safe to drink.

  • In 2008, severe flooding in Mason City, Iowa caused the closure of the water treatment facility. Residents were advised to boil their water until the system was restored and the water was tested to ensure it was safe to drink. The Hygienic Lab rose to the task and tested the water quickly bringing the treatment operation back online. [More on the floods in Iowa]

We would like to thank our unsung heroes in lab coats for protecting the public’s health – every day. Join APHL and our many partners in celebrating National Public Health Week. For more information, visit http://www.nphw.org/.

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APHL Working to Ensure Power for Laboratory Services in Haiti

Feb 16 2010 :: Published in Global Health, Laboratory Systems and Standards, Public Health Preparedness & Response

When the electrical grid comes back on-line in Haiti, the country’s laboratory system will be able to ramp up services quickly thanks to measures put in place before the magnitude 7.0 temblor January 12.

Even before the devastating earthquake, electrical power in Haiti was unreliable, with routine outages and serious voltage and frequency variations that compromised laboratory testing. Outages can lead to the loss of valuable testing reagents that must be stored at controlled temperatures, while “dirty power” is damaging to a wide range of laboratory equipment, including instruments used for diagnostic testing to support antiretroviral treatment for HIV-infected patients.

With funding from CDC’s Global AIDS Program and funding and technical assistance from the US Agency for International Development, APHL invested in site-specific technologies to improve the quality of the power received from the electric grid and provide continuous power during grid power outages. The core technologies include uninterruptible power supplies, generator back-up power with automatic transfer switches and no-contact inverter battery systems.

In addition, APHL has provided on-site maintenance and supervisory support visits with two-person teams comprised of one laboratory technologist and one service technician that travel to 16 supported sites throughout the country. Thankfully, Haiti’s national public health laboratory, the Laboratoire National de Santé Publique in Port-au-Prince, remains standing in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Although the massive relief effort has consumed all the country’s resources—with surviving laboratory staff understandably focusing on their homes and families—APHL is hopeful that conditions will improve enough to enable public health testing to resume in the not too distant future. At that point, the electrical support infrastructure will be a valuable help.

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