Participants in tutorials during the training workshop.
As part of the RESAOLAB project, the Department of Laboratories (DL) welcomed fifteen or so participants to spend the week developing their knowledge and skills in laboratory data collection, analysis and transfer via the DHIS2 platform.
Organized for the DL team and staff of targeted health facilities, this workshop was the occasion for participants to attend presentations of the software, learn about its features – specifically those dedicated to data mapping – and join tutorials to put them into practice. Round-table meetings between the people in charge of the national DHIS2 and participants were held in order to promote exchanges between the ministerial bodies. Following the completion of this workshop, each participant received a training certificate.
During this week, the participants achieved the following objectives:
- Assimilate the use of DHIS2 software level 1
- Master the use of DHIS2 to map laboratories and their capacities
- Master the export of data from LabBook to DHIS2
- Assimilate data analysis for the surveillance of diseases with potential to cause epidemics
- Assess the accuracy and reliability of collected data
- Easily exchange with the national body in charge of DHIS2 following the workshop’s round-table discussion
The Department of Laboratories organized this workshop with the support of the Mérieux Foundation and funding from the AFD through the RESAOLAB project, in order to meet the needs expressed by the countries to receive training on DHIS2 software. The workshop is part of the intervention strategy for the RESAOLAB project, the third phase of which is based on a regional, transversal, coordinated, and consistent approach.
DHIS2 software
A Health Management Information System (HMIS) is one of the key pillars of the healthcare system, and relies on the availability of high-quality data, which can in turn be used for optimal and efficient decision-making.
To this end, software has been developed for the collection, analysis and publication of aggregate and individual health information. This is the case for DHIS2, an open-source software developed in collaboration with the HISP Center at the University of Oslo (UiO) and a global network of 17 national and regional organizations, providing guidance to ministries and local officials on the use of the software.
Configured and customized according to the DL’s objectives, the DHIS2 laboratory ensures the consistency, coordination and supervision of laboratory data entry and analysis. Since the release of LabBook version 3, a free and open-source laboratory data management system created in 2010 by the Mérieux Foundation, data can be exported to DHIS2.
About RESAOLAB
A system of medical biology laboratories providing high-quality services is an essential requirement for improving population health. RESAOLAB – the West African Network of Biomedical Analysis Laboratories – is the first regional programme in West Africa to provide a response to this public health concern. Designed with West African healthcare stakeholders, it takes into consideration all the factors affecting the laboratories’ governance and performance. Its objective is to improve the quality of medical biology services in these seven West African countries, by reinforcing their laboratory systems with a multifaceted regional approach.
RESAOLAB is an innovative network that aims to enhance access to quality diagnostics for vulnerable people in seven West African countries. The project was initiated by the Mérieux Foundation in 2009, in collaboration with the Ministries of Health of Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. Four countries joined the network in 2013: Benin, Guinea, Niger and Togo. The project entered its third phase in 2019 as part of a partnership between the Mérieux Foundation and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in order to continue to reinforce laboratory systems.
Since its launch in 2009, RESAOLAB has enabled the deployment of major programmes for ongoing training activities, the construction and provision of equipment for training and quality assurance laboratories and the introduction of epidemiological surveillance systems.
The network has been heavily involved in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis from 2020 onwards. Thanks to an additional grant awarded by the AFD (Agence Française de Développement), RESAOLAB made it possible to develop response strategies for laboratories, by drawing on its expertise with partners.
RESAOLAB in Senegal
Senegal has been a member country of RESAOLAB since 2009. Since its launch, the project has contributed to the creation of a National Laboratories Directorate, the renovation of several training centers and the construction of a National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP). Initial and ongoing training for laboratory staff has been reinforced and the laboratories now benefit from supervision as part of a national quality plan.