Six laboratories attain Sadc accreditation

Six laboratories in the country have attained international accreditation by Southern Africa Development Community Accreditation Services (Sadcas).

Four of the labs are supported by the United States Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) through laboratory capacity strengthening and cooperative initiatives.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said the accreditation marks the first time an international accreditation body has recognised Malawian laboratories high standard.

Speaking when presenting the accreditation awards  in Lilongwe, the minister said the recognition shows that the country is committed to improve the quality of services in the health sector.

The laboratories accredited with ISO 15189—an international index for high quality—are the National HIV Reference Laboratory in Lilongwe, Partners in Hope in Lilongwe, Balaka Dream in Balaka, Blantyre Dream, Mwaiwathu and Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust, in Blantyre.

Chiponda said the laboratories have played a key role in disease prevention, control and health research as well as in response to Covid-19.

She said: “The [laboratory] institutions have helped a lot to deal with and reverse the situation of Covid-19 in the country and the accreditation is timely.

“It is my ministry’s goal to also have all 10 existing HIV testing molecular laboratories accredited at the rate of two per year by 2024.”

In her remarks, principal investigator Professor Alashle Abimuku from the University of Maryland Bartimore (UMB) who provided technical support in the Sadcas accreditation process, said it is the intention of UMB to continue supporting Malawi.

“So that together we address some of the health challenges facing the country,” she said.

Chiponda thanked the US Government for the financial support provided by CDC and Pepfar.

As at May, 2021, there were about 560 accredited laboratories in Africa, according to Sadcas.