The AMREF Laboratory Programme was established in 1985 to assist the Ministries of Health in the eastern African region to develop effective and sustainable laboratory services. The Laboratory Programme has focused on improving clinical and laboratory diagnostic services at peripheral level where the most of the population lives, working closely with Ministries of Health, mission organisations, and health-related non-governmental organisations, to identify problems and develop effective and sustainable strategies, with the overall aim of improving the quality of patient care and addressing effective public health care measures.
The Lab Programme has worked at both central and peripheral levels to find solutions to major constraints to quality health services delivery. The Programme has been actively involved in the standardisation of laboratory techniques and equipment through policy development, and has developed refresher training activities and appropriate health learning materials for clinical and laboratory staff throughout Africa.
AMREF has a Central laboratory in Nairobi, and additional laboratories in Dar es Salaam and Kampala. All laboratories are equipped for diagnostic testing and for training. The AMREF Laboratory Programme trains laboratory technicians and managers, and trains clinicians in the proper use of laboratory diagnostic tests. AMREF has published several manuals addressing diagnostic practices, addressing both laboratory and clinical practices.
The Lab Programme provides diagnostic and clinical management services to support AMREF’s clinical programmes, including antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. The AMREF laboratories serve as reference laboratories for the East Africa Region, and are the coordinating centres for the East African Regional External Quality Assessment Scheme (EA-REQAS), which provides quality assurance testing for health laboratories in the region.
We are:
- working with the Ministries of Health in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Mainland, Zanzibar, Rwanda and Burundi, to improve the quality of essential diagnostic services in clinical laboratories through The East African Regional External Quality Assessment Scheme (EA-REQAS)
- Improving Malaria Diagnostics (IMaD) in East Africa
- establishing community disease surveillance systems in countries in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania) to detect, report and respond to disease outbreaks
