Examining 7 years of implementing quality management systems in medical laboratories in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Achievement of ISO15189 accreditation demonstrates competency of a laboratory to conduct testing. Three programmes were developed to facilitate achievement of accreditation in low- and middle-income countries: Strengthening Laboratory Management Towards Accreditation (SLMTA), Stepwise Laboratory Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) and Laboratory Quality Stepwise Implementation (LQSI).

Objective: To determine the level of accreditation and associated barriers and facilitators among medical laboratories in the WHO-AFRO region by 2020.

Building local human resources to implement SLMTA with limited donor funding: The Ghana experience.

Background: In 2009, Ghana adopted the Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) programme in order to improve laboratory quality. The programme was implemented successfully with limited donor funding and local human resources.

Objectives: To demonstrate how Ghana, which received very limited PEPFAR funding, was able to achieve marked quality improvement using local human resources.