Laboratory Training Centre Launches First Course
Realizing that a good public health laboratory
network is a cornerstone of a strong response to global HIV/AIDS,
CDC, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, worked
with the South African National Health Laboratory System and the
South African National Institute of Communicable Disease in
Johannesburg to establish the groundbreaking African Centre for
Integrated Laboratory Training (ACILT).
The vision of ACILT, located on the campus of the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), in Johannesburg, South Africa, is to provide for a healthier Africa through quality laboratory practices to combat major infectious diseases.
This centre, which will bolster Africa’s rapidly growing demand for a well-trained, competent, and motivated workforce in HIV and TB diagnostics, was pleased to have launched its first course on Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) of HIV infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from dried blood spots (DBS). The training covered different methods of DNA extraction from DBS and included proficiency testing for the trainees. Eleven trainees drawn from eastern and southern African countries attended. A second EID course is planned for later this year. Other upcoming course are TB culture and laboratory management..
This training center focuses on the development and presentation of hands-on training courses of one to three weeks duration for front-line laboratory staff. There are no tuition fees for courses but countries are expected to support the travel and per diem expenses for the participants sent for the courses. In addition, it is expected that provisions will be made for the participants to implement the assays learned when they return to their host countries.
Future courses are expected to include:
- TB AFB smear microscopy;
- Mycobacterial culture;
- First-line drug susceptibility testing (DST);
- Laboratory management
- EID DNA-PCR
- Quality Assurance for EID testing
- Quality Assurance for HIV rapid test
- Establishment of EQA programs for TB AFB smear microscopy;
For more information about the Centre and its upcoming courses, please contact Ritu Shrivastava (RShrivastava1@cdc.gov) and Elsie van Schalkwyk (Elsie.vSchalkwyk@nhls.ac.za).
Last modified:
November 03, 2008
Last reviewed:
November 02, 2008
Content Source:
Global AIDS Program (GAP)
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention