ECSA-HC and Uganda Supranational Lab partners with WHO to support Rwanda National TB reference lab to become a Supranational Lab (SRL)

In 2019, the ECSA-HC received funding through the Global Fund to strengthen capacity for TB diagnostics in the ECSA region. Currently the project supports 21 countries within the region namely: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In March 2021, WHO confirmed SRL candidate status to Mozambique and Rwanda. As a candidate SRL, an NTRL is required to provide technical support to laboratories in other countries beyond their home-country network. In an effort to support Rwanda NTRL, ECSA-HC, the Uganda SRL and the WHO have joined hands to ensure Rwanda supports Francophone countries within the ECSA region.

To date, Rwanda has signed MoUs with Comoros and Madagascar with support from the ECSA-HC and the Uganda SRL. These will be the initial Francophone countries to be supported by Rwanda.

On the 5th of August 2021 an inception meeting was held in Arusha, Tanzania, where Rwanda NTRL, ECSA-HC, WHO, Uganda SRL, Comoros and Madagascar have convened to discuss the roadmap and implementation arrangements on how Rwanda will support Comoros and Madagascar.

ECSA-HC and the Uganda SRL welcome Comoros and Madagascar to the Network.