In a major stride toward faster, more localized epidemic response, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has convened public health leaders from 10 African countries to co-develop a landmark framework for decentralizing laboratory services across the continent.
The four-day high-level workshop, which opened on July 14 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, placed equitable access to diagnostics at the center of Africa’s epidemic preparedness and response strategy.
Hosted in collaboration with the Cameroon Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Union, the meeting brought together national laboratory directors, public health experts, and senior government officials. The key outcome was the development of the Continental Guidance for the Decentralization of Laboratory Services — a practical, action-driven tool to support African Union Member States in designing national diagnostic strategies that bring testing closer to communities and enable more rapid detection and response to outbreaks.
“Member States cannot respond effectively to outbreaks if diagnostic capacity is limited to national reference laboratories,” said Dr. Yenew Kebede Tebeje, Acting Director of the Centre for Laboratory Diagnostics and Systems at Africa CDC. “Detection capabilities must be decentralized to sub-national levels and below to enhance early warning surveillance and ensure timely confirmation of disease threats.”
He added that decentralized laboratory services are also essential to achieving Universal Health Coverage across the continent.
Dr. Kakambi Christelle, a senior official at Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health, presented the country’s model for decentralizing diagnostics for epidemic-prone diseases. Key components include strengthening regional labs, training frontline personnel, establishing a national sample transport network, and conducting laboratory mapping to boost surveillance and response capacity.
“Laboratory detection is the first line of defense in identifying potential outbreaks,” said Rachel Achilla, WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) representative. “Decentralizing labs widens the net, increasing our chances of catching the culprit pathogen early and guiding timely public health action.”
Success stories were shared by delegations from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which expanded Mpox testing capacity from just two laboratories to 56 in Burundi and 27 in DRC—within one year—resulting in major improvements in disease detection and management.
“One of the key lessons from recent epidemics in Africa is the strategic value of decentralizing diagnostics to overcome sample transport delays and accelerate response,” noted Prof. Pembe Issamou Mayengue, a researcher at the National Public Health Laboratory in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
Still, participants acknowledged that decentralization presents considerable challenges—particularly for fragile health systems. These include data integration, skilled workforce shortages, equipment maintenance, supply chain logistics, and limited electricity or internet connectivity in many areas.
“National Public Health Laboratories are the backbone of decentralized services,” emphasized Gifty Boateng, a public health researcher from Ghana. “They must set the standards, guide policy, ensure quality assurance, and mentor labs at peripheral levels. Their leadership is essential for building resilient and responsive systems.”
Over the four days, participants worked collaboratively to develop a guideline rooted in both African realities and global best practices. The resulting framework provides strategic guidance for implementing decentralization in ways that ensure national ownership, institutional integration, and long-term sustainability.
“If we move from two labs with chronic sample collection, data flow, infrastructure, and supply chain challenges, decentralizing means multiplying those issues,” warned Yao Selom, Unit Lead for Laboratory Systems and Networks at Africa CDC. “Our role is to guide, alert, and support Member States in identifying what to consider, how to prepare, and how to implement effectively.”
The initiative is part of the Partnership to Accelerate Mpox and Other Outbreaks Testing and Sequencing in Africa (PAMTA)—a joint program of Africa CDC and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM). Co-funded by the European Union through the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), PAMTA is administered by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA).
This effort contributes to the broader continental agenda of strengthening diagnostics, expanding technical capacity, and improving readiness for future epidemic threats across Africa.