Highlights of Health Focus GmbH Participation at the 11th EDCTP Forum, 07-10 November 2023, Paris, France
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, EDCTP (www.edctp.org), celebrated its 11th biennial Forum and 20 years anniversary in Paris, France from 07-10 November 2023. The Forum was hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of France and ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases, and held at the Palais des Congrès de Paris. The Forum theme was “Partnering for Global Health Research Innovation and Impact in Africa – Celebrating EDCTP: two decades and beyond”. A total of 1,118 participants from 64 countries were part of the 4-day Forum (onsite and virtual). Health Focus GmbH (www.health-focus.de) was ably represented at the Forum by Dr Abraham Sunday Alabi (PhD), Technical Advisor, Health Focus Diagnostics, who presented on two collaborative projects recently implemented in Liberia. His poster titled “Collaborative Implementation of Laboratory Quality Management System (LQMS), AMR Surveillance and Stewardship in County Hospital Laboratories in southeast Liberia – journey so far and lessons learned” attracted huge interest from the participants. The success of these projects is a demonstration of the excellent collaboration between The German Agency for International Cooperation, GIZ, that funded the projects; the Liberian Government and People represented by the National Diagnostics Division (NDD) of the Ministry of Health (MoH); and the Integrated Quality Laboratory Services, IQLS (www.iqls.net). Major outputs/spin-offs from these two projects include:
• Establishment of a standard bacteriology laboratory at the JJ Dossen hospital, Harper, Maryland County, Liberia.
• Capacity building of Laboratory staff through targeted workshops and mentorship.
• 4 of the 5 participating Laboratories (80%) obtained at least 1 star in final SLIPTA audit.
• Local antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) Guidelines Developed (Dec 2021)
• AMR surveillance and AMS programme institutionalized and running (post-project funding).
• Significant contribution to submission of Liberia’s AMR data to Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) for the 1st time in 2021.
• Scientific Publication: Alabi et al. doi.org/10.1093/jacamr/dlac069
Several dignitaires from around the world attended the 11 EDCTP Forum, including Dr Tunji Alausa the Nigerian Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare who was a Keynote speaker at the Forum’s closing ceremony.
Photo below: Dr Abraham Alabi, Dr Tunji Alausa (Honourable Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare, Nigeria) and Professor Richard Adegbola (NIMR, Lagos, Nigeria) at the 11th EDCTP Forum, Paris, France
