ASLM Activities at ICASA 2011    

ASLM participated in the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) from 4-8 December in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

ASLM Welcomes Meeting Participants at the Booth

ICASA 2011, Africa's largest conference on HIV/AIDS, brought together more than 10,000 participants from 103 countries to share and learn about successes, challenges and innovations in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. 

ASLM Networking Booth

ASLM's presence was met with an enthusiastic response, with more than 3,000 participants visiting the ASLM booth. ASLM representatives Ms. Etalem Engeda and Ms. Stella Ekallam distributed information about the organization and ASLM's first annual meeting, to be held in December 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. 

ICASA Workshops

Satellite Symposium Speakers:

1.      Dr. John Nkengasong, CDC Atlanta - Towards Quality

assured Laboratory Systems in Africa: the Role of

ASLM/SLIPTA

2.      Dr. Thomas Kenyon, CDC Ethiopia - Laboratory

          Strengthening is a Cornerstone of Health System

          Strengthening

3.      Prof. Souleymane Mboup, University of Dakar - The Role

          of ASLM in Research and Publication Capacity

          Development in Africa

4.      Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, ASLM - An ASLM Roadmap for

          Countries from Global Health Policies to Better Health

          Outcomes for Patients 

Skill-building Workshop Speakers:

1.      Dr. Fausta Mosha, National Public Health Laboratories,

          Tanzania - The WHO Stepwise Laboratory Improvement

          Process Towards Accreditation

2.      Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, ASLM Ethiopia - The Potential

          and Importance of Integrated Laboratory Approach,

          taking TB/HIV laboratories as examples

3.      Dr. Trevor Peter, CHAI Botswana - Laboratory Clinic

          Interface as a Foundation for Patient Management as

          well as Disease Prevention and Control

ICASA 2011 presentations are available  here. 

Dr. John Nkengasong, ASLM Board Chair, presents to an audience of 7,000 on health systems strengthening in Africa

Dr. Nkengasong spoke about ASLM and the WHO AFRO Stepwise Laboratory (Quality) Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) during his presentation, "Health Systems Strengthening in Africa: Innovation Technologies for HIV Response in Africa". He emphasized that the SLIPTA framework for improving quality of public health laboratories in developing countries to achieve ISO 15189 standards provides a critical roadmap for strengthening laboratory networks and implementing quality management systems within Africa. ASLM would serve as the implementing body in the African region, he said, working closely with WHO AFRO and other key partners. He demonstrated how the Strengthening Laboratory Management Towards Accreditation (SLMTA) program has shown immediate, measurable improvement in laboratories in resource-limited settings using their existing resources in 22 countries, with a total of 283 laboratories enrolled and 865 people trained. He insisted that new technologies are meaningless if there are no health systems to deliver them, and health systems are only meaningful if they are strengthened to support technologies for program scale-up. He reiterated that partnership and collaboration of all stakeholders were critical to embark upon the SLIPTA journey, and his welcome for all to join in this groundbreaking venture was met with invigorating enthusiasm.

Dr. John Nkengasong, ASLM Board Chairperson