West African Laboratory Scientists are scheduled to meet in Accra on 21 -22 April this year to deliberate on ways to strengthen West African's diagnostics and research environment to combat infectious diseases including Covid-19.

The long term impact of COVID-19 patients treatment on the fight against drug resistance in West Africa is one of the many issues that will engage the attention of West African scientists when they converge in Accra for CelebrateLAB West Africa 2021 Conference.

The 7th annual meeting of laboratory scientists, researchers, clinicians, regulators, policymakers and other players in the health care team will place emphasis on how stronger health laboratory systems in the sub-region will help prevent emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.  

Convened by Africabio Enterprises, Inc., the Accra Conference is being organised in partnership with the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists and co-hosted by the Ghana Health Service and Akai House Medical Laboratories, and other partners.

Researchers have been sounding the alarm on the likely long-term impact of widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics since the pandemic, with many experts concerned that Africa, already burdened with Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR, will be most impacted.

“Building a laboratory capacity for microbiology culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for patient management is crucial in fighting AMR in developing countries,” states Dr Kassaye Tekie Desta, Diagnostic Network Advisor, Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) in Liberia.

“Diagnostic stewardship is the cornerstone of antimicrobial stewardship programs,” adds Dr Desta, who will be presenting at the conference on: “Global Health Security Agenda and Clinical Best Practices in West Africa.”

On the theme: “Combating Emerging and Re-Emerging Infections through Standardization of Laboratory Practice across West Africa,” the meeting, among other issues, will deliberate on how to balance COVID-19 pandemic response while protecting public health gains in laboratory diagnosis of HIV, TB, and Malaria.

“There are numerous gaps within the medical Laboratory value chain in the sub-region. The gaps offer opportunities for scientists and governments to start thinking about creating policies and legislation around the laboratory value chain to create value for service users,” notes Dr Anthony Laud Basing, Consultant Medical Laboratory Scientist and Lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University Science Technology, Ghana, who will be leading a session on “Creating and Sustaining the Value Chain in the Health Laboratory Industry.”

Dr Basing who is also the CEO of Incas Diagnostics, a company that is focused on developing simple test kits for diagnosis of infectious diseases that largely impact women and children in Africa, added that “African governments must invest in research and local production of diagnostics devices in order to ensure that the supply chain challenges experienced at beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t recur in a future pandemic.”

The West African Laboratory Scientists and researchers will also, among other things, share experiences and best practices on the benefits of “Creating Standards in laboratory practice across the West Africa region,” and examine the issue of “Biological and Hazardous Waste Management in the Era of COVID-19.”

CelebrateLAB is an annual meeting of Medical Laboratory Professionals, Researchers, Clinicians, Policy Makers and Regulators, highlighting diagnostics and research across the West Africa region. The conference takes place during the International Lab Week that celebrates the role of Medical Laboratory Professionals in health outcomes.