OVERVIEW

The Clinical Laboratory Services Department has an integrated, tiered referral laboratory network comprising of over 84 laboratories spread across the six geo-political zones of the country. The laboratories which receive mentoring from well-trained laboratory personnel are established to provide appropriate laboratory capacity and quality patient support  to 136 ACTION-supported clinical sites.

At the tertiary level, 34 network comprehensive laboratories provide high throughput hemogram, clinical chemistry and CD4 assessment services using automated equipment platforms suitable for the settings. 10 of these provide virology services and one provides culture and genotype assay for mycobacterium tuberculosis using the HAINS technique. The Virology unit is in the forefront of Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) and offers viral load testing for adults and children based on an algorithm evaluated in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria.

Additional laboratories at the secondary level provide patient monitoring and diagnostic capability including HIV rapid testing, hemogram, and CD4 count. At the primary level sites, laboratories are equipped to provide HIV rapid testing and hemogram and also collect/package samples for chemistry and CD4 assessment for transport to a more advanced laboratory in their network.

A Bio-safety level 3 TB culture capacity has been developed at the National TB and Leprosy Training Center in Zaria. This laboratory serves as a National Reference Center for TB culture and earmarked to support the national MDRTB survey and the multicountry TB Public Health Evaluation.

The Department has one Senior Technical Advisor, several US-based consultants and 35 local program staff assigned to 12 units and five regional offices.  The units are:

• HIV Testing/Blood Safety, Immunology/Hematology, Chemistry, and Commodities under Clinical Diagnostics

• Diagnostic Virology and Gene Sequencing under Molecular Virology

• Malaria and Tuberculosis under Microbiology

• Training

• Biotech Engineering

• Biorepository Services

• Quality Improvement

The Laboratory Department has an aggressive QA/QC program with specially trained laboratory staff dedicated to carrying out on-site quarterly monitoring, retraining, and overseeing a proficiency panel-testing program. It is supported by an EQA program of IHV Baltimore.

Four training laboratories have been developed as national resources by AIDS Care and Treatment in Nigeria (ACTION) Project and placed strategically in four states (FCT, Kano, Edo, and Plateau States). These laboratories are each configured with a didactic and a lab bench-training venue with standard equipment.

The National TB and Leprosy Training Centre in Zaria (Kaduna State) is supported by ACTION, and serves as a fifth training lab supporting the National TB and Leprosy Control Program. These laboratory training centers are used to train personnel from ACTION supported sites, FMOH, public private partners and other PEPFAR Implementing Partners.