Through the implementation of a public-private partnership (PPP), named Lab Networks for Health, Roche and the CDC will seek to improve HIV and tuberculosis prevention, detection, and treatment outcomes in select countries of Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere as well as of Latin America, Central America, and the Caribbean regions.
Specifically, Roche and CDC intend to increase laboratory human-resource capacity building through expanded training interventions and to support laboratory quality management systems and improvement programs.
The partners will also seek to optimise laboratory workflows and integrated diagnostics networks to increase access to multi-pathogen testing capabilities to enhance pandemic preparedness.
In addition, they will work to improve local and regional capacity for effective laboratory waste management and related biosafety approaches.
''We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to further support efforts that scale up and expand access to diagnostics for tuberculosis, HIV, and emerging pandemics," said Bernard Colombo, president of Roche Diagnostics covering Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
''Investments in strong laboratory networks contribute to the strengthening of health systems that enable people to have access to life-saving testing and treatment for improved disease management and quality of life."
“CDC’s global laboratory-supported systems and networks are critical for detecting and monitoring HIV and tuberculosis, and have also been vital in the response to Covid-19 and other disease outbreaks,” said Hank Tomlinson, director of CDC’s division of global HIV and TB.
“Our renewed partnership with Roche Diagnostics will help to sustain these essential platforms, enhance laboratory workforce capacity, and identify efficiencies in multi-disease public-health laboratory systems to ensure accurate, reliable, and responsive diagnostic services globally.”
All activities under the PPP will be developed in a manufacturer-agnostic and collaborative manner among representatives from CDC, including country offices, Roche global and regional offices, and host country ministries of health, with the goal of creating and improving local and regional institutional capacity for laboratory systems’ strengthening.
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted progress towards reaching the World Health Organization’s HIV and tuberculosis elimination goals and brought challenges to healthcare systems across countries and communities, putting lives at risk.
A recent UNAids’ report highlighted the faltering progress for HIV programmes, with approximately 1.5 million new infections occurring in 2021; more than 1 million over the global target.
About 10.6 million people worldwide became ill with tuberculosis in 2021, and only 6.4 million of them were diagnosed, according to global reporting.
