Press Release

21 September 2006, New York

The Clinton Global Initiative highlights FIND’s and the Ugandan Government’s laboratory strengthening commitment proposal

The Clinton Global Initiative has highlighted FIND’s and the Ugandan Government’s Commitment to improve diagnostic services in developing countries through the creation of an innovative and sustainable model of laboratory social franchising, as one of the six key Public Health Commitments. Former President Bill Clinton and FIND’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, co-signed the Commitment yesterday in the presence of Dr. Sam Zaramba, Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health of Uganda. The laboratory strengthening commitment was signed at a ceremony during the Clinton Global Initiative 2006 Annual Meeting as part of the Public Health Focus Area Commitments.

"We are honored that FIND's Commitment to improve diagnostic services has been highlighted at this very important Clinton Global Initiative,” said FIND's CEO, Dr. Giorgio Roscigno: "The commitment underlines FIND’s pledge to help strengthen both the human resources and laboratory system for the roll out of new technologies that are in the process of being developed. Stronger public and private laboratories will help health workers to better treat patients and rebuild confidence in the health systems of developing countries.”

FIND's commitment is for $400,000 but other partners are needed to make up the $4 million needed over a four-year period to create a model for sustainable improvement in laboratory capacity to ensure the reliable diagnosis of poverty-related diseases at all levels of the health system. The Commitment is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health of Uganda, the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) and the Foundation of Innovative New Diagnostics to identify deficiencies in current diagnostic services, refine a package of essential diagnostics, and develop a plan to address those deficiencies in a sustainable manner through social franchising.

The state of diagnostic laboratories across many developing countries remains poor, underlining the critical need for improved infrastructure, equipment, laboratory supplies, and capacity. In under- resourced laboratories, technicians rely increasingly on clinical signs and symptoms as the only basis for disease diagnosis. Without the proper means to diagnose and treat disease, public and private confidence in laboratory systems diminishes, leading to further disinvestment in and de-prioritization of lab services.

This is the environment in which HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria epidemics are currently managed, and in which new diagnostic technologies are scheduled to be introduced. These new tools will not make an essential difference unless the overall state of diagnostic services and infrastructure is improved, together with local and sustainable mechanisms for continuous quality assurance, in order to prepare for the uptake of new diagnostic tools at all levels of the health system, with priority given to point-of-care tests.

FIND and its partners are exploring the concept of laboratory social franchising through a model that can assure high quality services, both in the public and private sectors, through accreditation as a locally driven public-private partnership. The fees from certified private sector laboratories would sustain a small non-profit national secretariat to manage laboratory accreditation and associated skills-building. This would result in sustained support for both public and private sector diagnostic service laboratories.

Affordable, accessible health care is essential to fight poverty. The single biggest void in the global health system is the underdevelopment of institutional infrastructure – hospitals, labs, medicine, and trained personnel. Clearly all of these services are essential to providing cost-effective prevention, testing, and treatment for the sick and healthy alike.

Despite these seemingly overwhelming challenges, numerous avenues exist for communities willing to work together to make life-saving improvements to the way in which their members are treated. The Global Health sessions at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative are intended to generate new and significant commitments to action that will improve the health of individuals, families, villages, cities and nations around the world.

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