The 30 participants during Afro-ACDx new edition
Getting trained and further contributing to the capacity building of diagnostic laboratories in West and Central Africa. This was the objective of the 30 participants present at this new edition of the Afro-ACDx course. These diagnostic laboratory managers, or those in charge of critical decisions in the field of human and animal health diagnostics, had a week to strengthen their diagnostic and laboratory leadership skills.
The course program links the international ACDx course, held annually in English at the Centre des Pensières (France), with the GLLP (Global Laboratory Leadership Program) learning program, which offers a leadership training module. This year, particular attention was paid to encouraging interactive presentations, leaving more room for discussion and exchange between peers.
Organized into nine training sessions, delivered by some twenty experts in the field – some of them from the Mérieux Foundation – the course covered the following topics:
- The role of laboratory diagnostics and presentation of the GLLP program
- Leadership: self-knowledge and motivation
- Key functions and organization of a laboratory
- Sustainable programs and actions to combat antimicrobial resistance
- Critical thinking and problem-solving in the laboratory
- Decision-making and change management
- Access to diagnostics to combat epidemics
- The organizational structure of a laboratory and its stakeholders
- Review of key skills in diagnostic laboratories and governance in Africa to facilitate access to diagnostics
Participants also visited the future MADIBA (Manufacturing in Africa for Disease Immunisation and Building Autonomy) vaccine production site of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, co-organizer of the course.
This year saw the introduction of new themes, such as a debate on the role of Artificial Intelligence in meeting the challenges of healthcare systems, and a comparison of key functions between public and private laboratories.
The course takes a “One Health“ approach, integrating human health issues with those of animal health and the environment. This specificity of the course was particularly evident this year, with ten participants from the veterinary sector.
In order to create a community of alumni, a link was established between the course’s graduating classes. Some of the previous year’s participants returned to the Afro-ACDx benches to share the impact of the course on their careers or laboratories. At the same time, they benefited from in-depth leadership training. Prof. Halimatou Diop Ndiaye, alumnus 2021, shared her experience of female leadership.
Once again this year, Afro-ACDx will have enabled a wide range of influential international profiles to strengthen their decision-making capacities in the field of diagnostics, thanks to training tailored to the context of their region, but also by offering them the ideal conditions for sharing knowledge and creating partnerships and networks.
About Afro-ACDx
Launched in 2021, the Afro-ACDx course proposes to enhance the leadership skills of laboratory managers and promotes the role and value of medical diagnostics. Afro-ACDx aims to strengthen the local capacities of medical laboratories in West and Central Africa through training and the development of partnerships.
The course program and the selection of participants are under the responsibility of a scientific committee comprising the leading institutions involved in diagnostics in Africa: World Health Organization (WHO), WHO/AFRO, Africa CDC, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), the Global Fund, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), Institut Pasteur, West African Health Organization (WAHO), Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Réseau d’Afrique de l’Ouest des Laboratoires d’Analyses Biologiques (RESAOLAB), private analysis laboratories in Africa.
Held every year in Senegal, Afro-ACDx is one of five intensive courses organized by the Mérieux Foundation, alongside ADVAC (advanced vaccinology course), ACDx (advanced diagnostics course), AMR: a One Health challenge (advanced antimicrobial resistance course) and EpiCourse (advanced epidemiology course for emergency situations).