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Centers for Disease Control Awards URC Contract to Strengthen Laboratory Services in Swaziland

URC will assist the Kingdom of Swaziland to improve the quality of health services for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) under a new contract funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The project will provide technical support to strengthen Swaziland’s TB laboratory services.

Because TB is the single leading killer of people with AIDS, special attention must be paid to detecting TB among persons infected with HIV. Swaziland’s high rates of TB (700 cases per 100,000 population) and HIV (estimated at nearly 40% among pregnant women) make improving the country’s diagnostic capacity vital.

Accurate laboratory testing is a critical component of TB disease management: Clinicians must be able to rely on test results from laboratories to make a correct diagnosis, formulate a treatment plan, and monitor treatment.

In partnership with Swaziland’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Clinical Laboratory Services, and other local partners, a team of laboratory and quality improvement experts will assess medical labs in Swaziland to identify areas for improvement and recommend lab-related quality improvement measures.

The URC team will:

• Recommend quality assurance tools and methods that will lead to improvements in laboratory procedures,

• Show technicians how to monitor the quality of TB diagnostic services and overall laboratory services,

• Work with stakeholders to identify key indicators to measure the impact of improvements to the laboratory system,

• Support development of microscopy skills among technicians,

• Train technicians to conduct TB culture and drug sensitivity testing, and

• Strengthen linkages between health facilities and laboratories.

For more information, please contact Aruni Liyange at alinyage@urc-chs.com.