Programme Director
The Honourable Ministers of Health
The Regional Director of AFRO, Dr. Louis Sambo
Esteemed Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro
Ambassador Gips Representatives from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Representatives from Laboratory Services from the Continent and beyond
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen.
Good Afternoon and on behalf of the Government and people of South Africa, a very warm welcome to South Africa and to Cape Town.
I would like to thank the organisers of this conference – the African Society for Laboratory Medicine – for inviting me to say a few words on behalf of the South Africa government at this opening session of what is a very important conference.
I am delighted to see so many experts in laboratory sciences from all over Africa at this conference. Your presence at this conference illustrates the importance of diagnostic tests to the practice of medicine as well as the importance to strengthening laboratories across the continent.
I believe that the theme that you have chosen for this conference is vital to the integrity of any health system, anywhere in the world: “accurate lab diagnostic – a pillar of quality healthcare”.
Both the World Health Organisation Africa Region (AFRO) and the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) have acknowledged the importance of quality lab diagnostics for our continent. In 2008 AFRO adopted Resolution AFR/RC58/R2 which called for the strengthening of public health laboratories in the African region.
In addition, also in 2008, the Maputo Declaration called for integrated laboratory support for major diseases and called for governments to develop and implement national laboratory policies and strategic plans. A year later, in 2009 at the AFRO meeting in Kigali, we launched the AFRO stepwise laboratory improvement process towards accreditation.
This conference must build on these initiatives as well as assist us to implement these resolutions.
In South Africa, with our high HIV and TB burden in particular we know all too well the importance of a robust laboratory system that provides accurate, timely and affordable laboratory diagnostics. This is pivotal in identifying infected people and linking them to care and treatment, as well as the importance of labs in on-going monitoring of those on treatment.
We know that every lab test and every lab result is not just an inanimate sterile test: It represents a person with loved ones who wants them to get well as soon as possible as well as significant impacts on public health to avert the spread of infectious diseases.
Before becoming Minister of Health of South Africa I worked, for many years, as a medical practitioner in Limpopo province. I know from first-hand experience, that the lives of people depend on accurate, timely and affordable lab results.
To accurately diagnose and treat our mothers, our fathers, our children, friends and colleagues we need a large network of well-run and resourced laboratories able to provide reliable high quality results. The demand in South Africa for HIV-related testing is massive. In 2011/12 the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) performed: Over 3.5 million CD4 tests which as you know is used to decide on when to initiate patients on antiretroviral treatment. We currently have 1.9 million people on ARV treatment.
The NHLS also conducted more than 320 000 DNA based PCR tests for early infant diagnosis. And we’re well on our way to success. In 2011 the Medical Research Council showed that South Africa has successfully managed to reduce mother to child HIV transmission to 2.7% nationally. Putting large number of patients on treatment based on CD4 counts and carrying out PCR tests could not have been achieved without our high-performing labs – all 265 of them – around the country.
High quality and a rigorous, cost-effective laboratory service is the backbone of any successful health system. It is especially important in countries that have high burden of disease. Large volumes of tests are one thing, but one incorrect result may have seriously negative consequences to the life of a person. For example, a false negative CD4 count could prevent the initiation of antiretroviral treatment in a person, and a false negative DNA PCR could prevent an infant’s early access to treatment. This will negatively affect the health and quality of life.
Poor quality not only affects lives, but it undermines confidence in lab tests and lab results and ultimately the public health system. Poor quality compromises patient care and eventually contributes to additional costs to the public health sector and to the taxpayer. Cost-efficient labs that use appropriate technologies help save lives and money.
The only way to ensure that a laboratory system is able to deliver reliable and reproducible results is through adherence to the highest level of standards. High standards produce high quality laboratory testing. Through vigorous adherence to standards and a long and arduous process, the South African National Health Laboratory Service has been able to implement some of the necessary laboratory management systems required to attain full accreditation.
And this is why I consider this conference timely and relevant.
Through sharing and collaboration we can develop and maintain high quality and accredited laboratory systems throughout the continent.
And it is through organisations like the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and this conference that our technologists, scientists and pathologists will be able to present, discuss and learn from each other to strengthen laboratory services and practices throughout the continent.
Like many other countries on the continent, South Africa has benefited from development assistance. I would like to mention two such partnerships that the NHLS in South Africa has benefited from. With the support of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund in the rollout of GeneXpert. We have decided to rollout Genexpert throughout the country – currently half the laboratories in the country have the technology and we have done more than 800 000 tests using this technology (more than half of all tests done globally). We are hopeful that as a result of rapid diagnostics we will be diagnose and treat both drug susceptible and drug resistant TB early and thus generate better outcomes for the patient and a decrease in transmission of TB, which is particularly important because of the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
I have been trained to use the Genexpert myself and can attest that this assay is surely the “bazooka” of all tests. Labs are an important clinical service, the very foundation of any public health system. This is why we need to raise profile of laboratory medicine and the role of Lab professionals across the continent.
South Africa has worked closely with ASLM since its inception and we hope to continue to contribute in policy making and technical support to the organisation and to our neighbours, should our experiences and expertise
be required.
In addition, as we contribute to the strengthening of the ASLM, countries on the continent can network with each other to strengthen our lab platforms as well as the quality of the lab services provided to the health systems of our countries. It is important that all of the labs on the continent are accredited for quality. Accreditation means sustained adherence to acceptable quality standards, maintenance of robust systems and processes and ensuring cost effective, affordable and clinically relevant services.
Programme director, in conclusion, South Africa welcomes and supports the African Society for Laboratory Medicine as the first dedicated pan-African umbrella organisation dedicated to the development of laboratory professionals on the African continent.
Permit me to again warmly welcome my colleagues, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and all delegates to the beautiful city of Cape Town and to South Africa. I urge you to visit Table Mountain and the Robben Island. I wish you very successful deliberations.
I thank you.
