Becton Dickinson and PEPFAR Launch “Labs for Life” to Strengthen Laboratories in Developing Regions

A new collaboration, valued at USD 20 Million, between global medical technology leader Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD; Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR; Washington DC, USA) through the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA) has now launched “Labs for Life” to help strengthen healthcare and laboratory systems in resource-limited regions heavily burdened by disease.

The new five-year program, announced at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, will continue efforts in Africa as well as increase scope to include additional regions and diseases. It builds on a successful prior five-year public-private partnership (PPP) between BD and PEPFAR (the largest component of the President’s Global Health Initiative) that focused on regions severely affected by HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). Assessing the performance of this PPP, Cardno, an external auditing company, reported that countries where capacity building took place not only improved the quality of services available to local populations, but also became regional centers of excellence in Africa. “Our work with PEPFAR over the last five years has demonstrated how the private sector can effectively apply its technologies and expertise to have a positive impact on healthcare in the regions most heavily burdened by disease,” said Vincent A. Forlenza, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President, BD.

“The US is strengthening health systems in developing countries for the long term by supporting national leadership in creating programs that are country-owned and respond to local needs,” said Ambassador Eric Goosby, coordinator at the CDC’s Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA).

“The collaboration between PEPFAR and BD exemplifies the unique impact that public-private partnerships can have on addressing health challenges in the developing world,” said Thomas Frieden, Director, CDC. The Labs for Life program will include Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, and expand outside of Africa to India, and will primarily focus on improvement for laboratory services to attain accreditation; laboratory human resources training on pathology, forecasting, and optimization; curriculum development and training on equipment maintenance; collaboration with the African Centre for Integrated Laboratory Training (ACILT) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) to strengthen local capacity and promote country ownership and sustainability; and use of HIV systems to address non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes) and creation of capabilities in health systems to adopt point-of-care technologies.

Related Links:
US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
Becton, Dickinson and Company
CDC Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA)