Clinical Laboratory Networks Contribute to Strengthening Disease Surveillance: The RESAOLAB Project in West Africa

Sufficient laboratory capacity is essential to effective infectious disease surveillance and control. This is recognized in the current International Health Regulations (IHR), which identify laboratory services as a category of core capacities that all the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States are expected to develop and maintain ( 1 ). IHR Core Capacity 8 requires laboratory services for every phase of real-time event management (i.e., detection, investigation, and response), with sample analysis being performed either domestically or through collaboration centers ( 2 ). (Published: 25 January 2013) Citation: Emerg Health Threats J 2013, 6 : 19960 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ehtj.v6i0.19960