On Wednesday at the ASLM Special Convention on Diagnostics held at Radisson Blu in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Dr. Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary of Uganda’s Ministry of Health, called on African countries to embrace innovation in diagnostics.
Dr. Atwine emphasized that advancing diagnostic systems through new technologies and quality assurance is critical to achieving health equity and excellence across Africa.
“Africa shoulders 25% of the world’s health burden but receives only 1% of the global health budget,” she noted, stressing the importance of addressing these imbalances by investing in diagnostics.
She highlighted Uganda’s alignment with this mission, pointing to the Ministry’s commitment to providing universal access to affordable, quality healthcare. “We aim to support all Ugandans with preventive, promotive, curative, and palliative care through evidence-based strategies,” she said.
Dr. Atwine underscored the importance of health laboratories, calling them “central to delivering quality healthcare, managing disease outbreaks, and ensuring pandemic preparedness.” She urged African leaders to prioritize diagnostics and innovation, calling for increased investment in new technologies, ongoing training, and collaborative research. “We need to focus on equipping our laboratory scientists and technologists and ensure our labs are centers of excellence,” she added.
A significant recommendation Dr. Atwine put forth was the digitalization and centralization of lab data across Africa. “By linking labs digitally, Africa can establish an interconnected system, enabling us to share data quickly and use artificial intelligence to enhance research and health outcomes,” she explained. This approach, she argued, would allow Africa to leverage its vast disease data and improve regional responses to common health challenges, particularly those stemming from the Congo and Equatorial basins.
Uganda’s contributions to this effort are already evident. “We have profiled several viruses of international concern, such as the Sudan virus, Zika, and HIV/AIDS, and we are willing to share this data for the benefit of all African countries,” Dr. Atwine said, emphasizing the importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration.
The convention also underscored the need to elevate laboratory governance. Dr. Atwine called on African nations to recognize laboratories as critical components of healthcare systems by raising their profiles within Ministries of Health. “Uganda is committed to this, and we are ready to share our experiences through capacity-building and benchmarking,” she noted.
Dr. Atwine affirmed ,“These collaborations are essential. Uganda is committed to continuing this partnership to enhance healthcare systems and promote diagnostic excellence across Africa.”
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