| • |
Those regions with the greatest need have the
least capacity |
| • |
Decades of under-funded infrastructure |
| • |
Quality is under valued |
| • |
Lab medicine is lacking resources and communication
structures |
| • |
Lack awareness of the role of laboratory medicine
in our world at risk |
| • |
Laboratory capacity and quality globally is a
limiting factor in responding to a world at risk |
| • |
We lack complete planning and we fail to recognize
secondary risks |
| • |
There is a growing demand for laboratory testing |
| • |
There is too much of a western view in policy
making related to healthcare and lab medicine, lack an appreciation
for the reality “on the ground” |
| • |
Our financial and business
models overly dictate what we should do and, as such, the solutions
we develop are not applicable in others parts of the world |
| • |
There does exist a “nucleus” of essential
quality system standards that could be applied to all laboratories |
| • |
Dumping “old generation” or graveyard
laboratory equipment on other nations/regions is not helpful
– “poisonous gifts” |
| • |
We lack global view of the regional needs in terms
of laboratory testing, testing environments, personnel qualifications
and cultural/social norms – leads to short term solutions
or no solutions at all |
| • |
Lack quality training that is relevant, science-based
and hands-on in many regions of the world. Training is didactic,
outdated and not practical. |
| • |
Laboratory standards and
training needs to be relevant to laboratory personnel and the
region |
| • |
“Compliance training” is insufficient…we
need to tap the internal passion and commitment of people to
improve laboratory quality |
| • |
Our efforts are frequently thwarted by conflicting
agendas and a lack of coordination |
| • |
Lack of consistency across settings (PEPFAR) in
terms of investment |
| • |
Poor quality reagents are being used in some parts
of the world |
| • |
We overly focus on programs and funding on diseases,
rather than the whole systems. While it is great to fund and
plan for specific diseases, this does create the secondary problem
of a disconnected system of healthcare |
| • |
Standards development is not the lagging system
rather. The systems that are lagging include: 1. resources,
2. capacity; and 3. tools for the application/transferability
of base standards to different testing applications and environments |
| • |
Not all countries mandate laboratory quality |
| • |
Overcoming our own inertia |
