Building Laboratory Capacity to Strengthen Health Systems: The Partners In Health Experience

Juan Daniel Orozco; Lauren A Greenberg; Ishaan K Desai; Fabienne Anglade; Deogratias Ruhangaza; Mira Johnson; Louise C Ivers; Danny A Milner Jr; Paul E Farmer

doi:10.1016/j.cll.2017.10.008

Building Laboratory Capacity to Strengthen Health Systems: The Partners In Health Experience

Clin Lab Med. 2018 Mar;38(1):101-117. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2017.10.008. Epub 2017 Dec 28.

Authors

Juan Daniel Orozco¹, Lauren A Greenberg², Ishaan K Desai³, Fabienne Anglade⁴, Deogratias Ruhangaza⁵, Mira Johnson⁶, Louise C Ivers⁷, Danny A Milner Jr⁸, Paul E Farmer³

Affiliations

¹ Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199, USA.
³ Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199, USA; Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
⁴ Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199, USA; United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, 404 Town Park Boulevard, Suite 201, Evans, GA 30809, USA; University Hospital of Mirebalais, Route Départmentale 11, Mirebalais Arrondissement, Centre Department, Haiti.
⁵ Ministry of Health, Butaro Hospital, Base Road, Butaro, Burera District, Rwanda.
⁶ American Society for Clinical Pathology, 33 West Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603, USA.
⁷ Partners In Health, 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02199, USA; Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 722, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
⁸ American Society for Clinical Pathology, 33 West Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603, USA; Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

PMID: 29412874
DOI: 10.1016/j.cll.2017.10.008

Abstract

The diagnostic laboratory is essential to patient care and to the achievement of health equity. Through the development of quality laboratories in settings burdened by poverty and weak health systems, Partners In Health has demonstrated the critical contributions of clinical laboratories to the care of patients with HIV, tuberculosis, and cancer, among other conditions. The lessons learned through the organization's experience include the importance of well-trained and well-supported staff; reliable access to supplies, reagents, and diagnostic equipment; adequate facilities to provide diagnostic services; the integration of laboratories into networks of care; and accompaniment of the public health sector.

Keywords: Cancer care; Diagnostics; Haiti; Health systems strengthening; Partners In Health; Pathology; Rwanda; Tuberculosis.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Capacity Building*
Clinical Laboratory Services*
Haiti
Humans
Neoplasms / diagnosis
Neoplasms / therapy
Pathology
Rwanda
Tuberculosis / diagnosis
Tuberculosis / therapy