Health officials and laboratory stakeholders from Saint Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently participated in a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) consultation, hosted in Saint Lucia, aimed at strengthening laboratory services across the Eastern Caribbean through the establishment of tier-based laboratory networks.
The initiative seeks to align national laboratory systems with the International Health Regulations (IHR) and Universal Health (UH) framework, with the ultimate goal of improving disease surveillance, outbreak detection and emergency response capabilities throughout the region.
PAHO Adviser for Health Systems and Services, Vishwanath Partapsingh, said the consultation was designed to facilitate discussions on the benefits of tier-based laboratory systems and assess the current state of laboratory capacity within participating countries.
“One of the key objectives is to have that conversation with them, build some understanding of what are the key tenets of a tier-based laboratory networks, what benefit can be added from them, what is your current capacity, how countries are currently set up for these, and what are some next steps that could be done,” Partapsingh explained.
He noted that the discussions also focused on evaluating progress made by countries in meeting international public health obligations.
“The other one is around taking a little step on the side and looking at what is capacity or what advancements have been made in capacity in countries for the international health regulations in alignment with the international health regulations.”
According to Partapsingh, the consultation provided a valuable platform for countries to exchange experiences and learn from one another.
“And then it’s also about sharing experiences. Countries who are at different points in the journey towards strengthening their laboratory networks and setting up tier-based networks, how can other countries learn from or build on those kinds of experiences?” he said.
Medical Officer for Health, Dr Glensford Joseph, welcomed the initiative, describing it as an important opportunity for Saint Lucia to assess and improve its laboratory services.
“This consultation really would give us an opportunity to review our laboratory framework and to identify area of challenges that we can build towards establishing a more robust laboratory system to deliver services not only at the national reference laboratories and the hospitals but also as we work towards a tiered-based approach as we prepare to roll out laboratory services at the community levels especially in our polyclinics,” Dr Joseph stated.
He said a tier-based system would support the decentralization of healthcare services and improve access for patients across the island.
“Having a very strong laboratory network, especially in a tiered approach, will allow the decentralization of services so that people can access services, especially in their communities. And this will be very important as we continue to roll out our universal health coverage package.”
Dr Joseph also emphasized the critical role laboratories play in public health surveillance and outbreak management.
“More so, this consultation will allow for the strengthening of our national surveillance capacity as laboratory diagnosis is a critical component in allowing for the confirmation of pathogens that are contributing to outbreaks and for the better management of such an outbreak.”
He added that stronger laboratory systems would support both patient care and rapid public health interventions.
“It will allow us to better manage the patient as well as to bring the outbreak under control very swiftly.”
Officials expect the development of a regional framework for tier-based laboratory networks to strengthen collaboration among Eastern Caribbean states while improving their ability to detect, monitor and respond to emerging public health threats.