PCI Zambia Clinical Lab Strengthening Agreement
Abstract
Project Concern International (PCI) applauds the US Department of Defense’s (DOD) vision and welcomes the opportunity to work with the Zambia Defense Forces (ZDF) to strengthen the military clinical laboratory system for delivery of high quality, accessible HIV testing and treatment monitoring services. PCI brings a solid background in health systems strengthening, particularly laboratory systems strengthening to this work. Under this project, PCI’s goal will be to increase the capacity of the ZDF for scale-up of the military clinical laboratory program by building upon PCI’s existing relationship with ZDF. PCI will do this through the accomplishment of two intermediate results: 1) Strengthening laboratories to support diagnosis and patient monitoring in health centers providing ART; and 2) Strengthening health commodity supply chain system and processes in ZDF health facilities. The proposed project will build on achievements of the PCI/ZDF collaboration to date and other PEPFAR and non-US Government (USG) existing programs. In addition to providing capacity building support to the ZDF in its clinics and communities for the past 12 years to foster strengthened referrals and linkages from facilities to communities and provider skills upgrades for key HIV/AIDS services; PCI has also provided five years of capacity building support to the Government of India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) HIV testing reference laboratories, leading 63 laboratories to enter the accreditation cycle (from a baseline of 1); and provided recent laboratory strengthening support to the Malawi Defense Force (MDF), including equipment and laboratory upgrades, training and mentoring of laboratory technicians. Under the leadership of its existing Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) Program Director, PCI will build on its long history and deep knowledge of Zambia, as well as its strong, on-the-ground presence, which includes a national office in Lusaka and programmatic presence in 14 districts and all ten provinces nationwide. PCI’s in-country management team will augment its technical resources for this project through the addition of a Biomedical Advisor and a Logistics Management Advisor, as well as other new staff that will be dedicated to this project. PCI’s approach to implementation will be evidence-based and standards-based, reflecting national priorities, implementation guidelines and best practices to include biomedical, behavioral, and quality assurance/improvement interventions. PCI will support ZDF/DFMS to implement interventions at the laboratory systems level that are aligned with the Zambia National Guidelines for HIV Counseling and Testing, the National AIDS Strategic Framework (NASF) 2014 – 2016, National Health Strategic Plan 2011-2015, the National Laboratory Strategic Plan 2012-2016, and PEPFAR Quality Strategy (2014). The program’s capacity building and sustainability approaches will foster a culture of quality, transfer of competencies, systems strengthening, and the transition of program leadership, management and ownership to ZDF for sustained, need-driven implementation. This project will feature a quality management system (QMS) that is informed by the use of the World Health Organization (WHO) Quality Systems Essentials (QSE) indicators for assessment, re-assessment and quality improvement. PCI will establish or enhance external quality assurance (EQA) and internal quality assurance (IQA) as part of the overall quality assurance system, which also includes development of a cadre of Regional Quality Managers, a comprehensive laboratory staff training system, a logistics management and equipment maintenance policy, implementation of an electronic Logistics Management Information System (eLMIS), and development or replication of job aids. Through a three-pronged approach that addresses: 1) laboratory staff competency and capacity; 2) establishment and management of laboratory quality policy and p
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 03, 2016
- Source ID
- N002441610045
Entities
People
- Janine Schooley
Organizations
- United States Navy