CLSI eNews - 1 January 2006 (Plain Text Version)Return to Graphical Version | Search back issues | Print all articles In this issue: Executive Vice President's MessageAn Opportunity for Impact I have just returned from my first trip to Africa, where I spent nearly two weeks in Tanzania at work on our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored cooperative agreement. Attending with me on behalf of CLSI was Dr. Michael Noble from the University of British Columbia, a pathologist and well-known expert in Quality Systems. Leading our trip was Dr. Carlyn Collins, Senior Project Advisor at CDC. Tanzania, a bit larger than Texas in size and with a population of 36 million, is located in equatorial East Africa. It contains the famed Serengeti plains, Lake Victoria, Mount Kilimanjaro, and is bordered on the east by the Indian Ocean. It is also one of the poorest nations on earth, in which HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and a host of parasitic diseases are pandemic. Our visit was an orientation—an opportunity to build relationships and to refine CLSI’s efforts in executing our CDC-sponsored cooperative agreement. We met with senior leaders from the Ministry of Health and other government agencies; representatives from private charity and philanthropic organizations; and a number of healthcare providers. Together, we gauged laboratory capacity and improvement efforts currently underway, and assessed where CLSI may add the most value. We also visited approximately ten hospitals and clinics throughout the country. It was an unforgettable experience. The people of Tanzania are genuinely polite, caring, and appreciative of the efforts and assistance being provided. They are keenly interested in building effective and self-sustaining systems for long-term improvements in the country’s laboratory infrastructure. The Ministry of Health has recently written a comprehensive Laboratory Capacity Improvement plan, which reflects a strong understanding of a broad need for quality systems essentials elements. There is a striking unevenness of clinical laboratory capacity and staff education and training among the various settings and locales of Tanzania, but basic elements of people, processes, and technology exist in many places. I left with the conviction that basic, standardized quality laboratory practices will have a tremendous and immediate impact. I also left Africa more excited than ever about CLSI’s future role and the positive impact we can have on the lives of people in countries like Tanzania. In our short time there, Dr. Noble and I made some valuable new professional contacts, as well as new friends. It was an energizing trip, affirming that this cooperative agreement will indeed enable CLSI to apply its collective capabilities to do the most good for the health care of the most people. I continue to welcome your feedback and insight. Glen
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