Strengthening the Diagnostic in Liberia Through the Implementation of a Sample Referral Network

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Liberia is one of the three West African countries most heavily impacted by the 2014 West Africa Ebola Virus outbreak. During the onset of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Liberia, many hospitals, public health laboratories and health clinics closed imperiling the health of the Liberian population. While international NGOs, organizations and governments have arrived to help fill the gaps in the immediate need for laboratory testing and EVD treatment and care, there is only an informal link between the laboratories and locations where specimens are taken.Currently no formal specimen transport network exists in Liberia. Instead, an informal network of NGOs is providing transport for specimens requiring EVD testing to laboratories. This often leads to inefficiencies and pulls organizations away from their formal commitment to identifying and caring for EVD patients. Also, a small number of NGOs are also collecting and transporting swabs from dead bodies to laboratories as part of a temporary active surveillance network for EVD. As work continues to get to zero cases of EVD, the need for a more formal sample transport network.This project will support the development and implementation of a national specimen transportation network in Liberia. The network will link hospitals, active surveillance for EVD efforts and health care centers across the country to the nearest laboratory with the capabilities to test for Ebola and/or other relevant common diseases. This national specimen transportation network will ensure the rapid delivery of specimens in a manner designed to preserve specimen integrity to laboratories. This capacity is necessary in order for Liberia to get to and maintain zero cases of EVD, increase Liberia’s ability to rapidly detect future outbreaks and will be a vital component of the public health infrastructure necessary for future national disease surveillance programs.

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