Uganda made history this year by becoming the first country in Africa to have two of its veterinary labs recommended for international accreditation by South Africa’s National Accreditation Society (SANAS). The Mbale Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Mbale City and the Uganda Wildlife Authority Diagnostic and Research Laboratory in Queen Elizabeth National Park have been accredited by SANAS to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standards.
Veterinary laboratories play a crucial role in global health security and climate change by diagnosing infectious diseases and monitoring zoonotic diseases—those that can spread from animals to humans. Accreditation ensures labs deliver precise, timely information crucial for public health security.
With guidance from the Government of Uganda, and implemented by PATH in Uganda, the ICF-led USAID Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) Project supported the two veterinary labs and provided the necessary technical assistance to meet the ISO standards.
SANAS awarded the accreditation following a comprehensive assessment that began in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and included baseline audits, midterm assessments, and exit audits. Assessors verified compliance with international veterinary laboratory practices as defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health.
The accreditation is the result of four years of intensive support and capacity building from the USAID’s IDDS project led by ICF and a consortium of organizations with extensive expertise in infectious diseases, disease detection and surveillance, and health information systems: FHI 360, PATH, the Mérieux Foundation, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Abt Associates, Gryphon Scientific, Metabiota, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories.
I spoke to Derrick Mimbe, Director for the USAID IDDS Project in PATH's Uganda country office, and Thomas Ssemakadde, Diagnostics Specialist, also at the USAID IDDS Project at the PATH Uganda office, to learn more about the significance and implications of this accreditation milestone.
Q: Which veterinary labs were recommended for international accreditation and why is this important?
A: The two labs are Mbale Regional Veterinary Laboratory and Queen Elizabeth National Park Veterinary Laboratory. They have successfully undergone an assessment for international accreditation based on the ISO 17025:2017 standard, which is recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) for all veterinary labs across the world.
This means that the labs are now able to produce reliable, reproducible test results that can be comparable to international standards. This is very exciting news because they are the first of their kind in Uganda and will contribute to the prevention and control of animal diseases, especially those that can affect human health, such as zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance.
A SANAS assessor asks questions to the Laboratory Manager at Uganda Wildlife Authority Diagnostic and Research Laboratory in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Photo: PATH/ Deogratias Agaba.
Q: What does accreditation entail and how did you achieve it?
A: Accreditation is formal recognition by a third party that a lab has robust systems that can give consistent and reliable results, and that the people behind the testing are competent enough. This requires having the right teams in place and the desired competence to deliver recognizable lab results based on the set standards and following the protocols of lab quality management systems (QMS).
The accreditation journey has taken a span of four years, during which we supported the two vet labs to build strong QMS systems. We also conducted a series of sequential activities, from baseline audits to mandatory trainings and mentorships, to midterm assessments and exit audits. All this was part of the preparation for their international accreditation.
The benefits of accreditation are immense. It will improve the confidence and trust in the test results produced by the vet labs, which will inform better decision-making and policy formulation for animal health. It will also enhance the collaboration and communication among the vet labs and other stakeholders, such as farmers, veterinarians, researchers, and public health officials.
It will also open up opportunities for the vet labs to participate in regional and global networks and initiatives, such as the One Health approach and the Global Health Security Agenda.
But accreditation can also come with challenges, mainly related to the sustainability and maintenance of the QMS systems and the competence of the staff. This will require continuous monitoring, evaluation, and improvement, as well as adequate resources and support from the government and other partners.
Q: How does Uganda stand to benefit from this accreditation milestone?
A: More than 70 percent of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature. Presently, most of the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are increasing across the world. For Uganda, at any one time, we have more than one outbreak of a zoonotic disease and many of these zoonoses have become endemic. The best examples are Anthrax, Rift Valley fever, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, and Marburg, to mention but a few.
By establishing internationally recognized standards, we are better able to detect disease outbreaks early.
“When we strengthen our diagnostic capacity to detect these diseases, we nip them in the bud before they affect the animal health side, which ultimately also affects the economic survival of humans,”— Derrick Mimbe, Director of USAID IDDS Project, PATH Uganda.
Another benefit is that when the lab is internationally recognized, there is confidence that whatever results you present or the work you are doing is based on certain standards, which attracts more resources from partners and funding from donors. The labs can also become a reference lab where people can come to learn. For the vet side, we all know that the communities depend a lot on subsistence farming and that includes animals such as cattle and goats, these are key for people’s survival.
So, you want to save people from losing their only source of income and livelihood, that, for instance, helps send their children to school. If they have a cow and they sell milk, then they are able to get money for school fees. This was demonstrated in PATH's recent BBC documentary, which features a woman who lost her only cow to anthrax. As a result, she was struggling to pay her children's school fees.
Right now in Uganda, there is an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. During Christmas there was almost a total ban on meat because of anthrax, yet this is the main source of protein, so nutrition is also directly affected. With such accredited laboratories, we are able to detect early, diagnose early and protect livelihoods.
Q: What is likely to be the scope for the labs that have been recommended for accreditation?
A: The scope for the labs that have been recommended for accreditation is the testing of animal samples for various diseases, such as anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, and African swine fever.
The labs will also be able to conduct molecular and serological tests, such as PCR, ELISA, and LAMP, using state-of-the-art equipment and reagents. The labs will also be able to participate in proficiency testing and inter-laboratory comparisons, to ensure the quality and consistency of their results.
Additionally, the labs will be able to contribute to the global surveillance and response of animal diseases, especially those that pose a threat to human health and security.
“The labs will share their data and information with other national and regional stakeholders, such as the Uganda Veterinary Diagnostic Network, the East African Community, and the African Union,”— Thomas Ssemakadde, Diagnostics Specialist, IDDS Project, PATH Uganda.
Staff of Mbale Diagnostic Vet Lab and UWA Diagnostic and Research Vet Lab receive their accreditation certificates in Mbale City. Photo: PATH/ Deogratias Agaba.
“Having these two labs as the first ISO standard accredited in the country demonstrates the ability for us to move this capacity to other vet labs and increase their capacity as well,”— Derrick Mimbe, Director of USAID IDDS Project, PATH Uganda.
Q: How will the labs sustain the standards after the project funding ends?
A: Sustainability is built into the system. For Mbale, we engaged the district leadership, and the vet lab is under the office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). We worked with the CAOs to secure resources for the labs and to ensure they understand the purpose and function of the lab. The CAO then commited to provide resources to run the labs, making sure they have a budget, enough personnel and supplies, and other competencies.
For UWA, we also engaged management and they also signed a commitment to support the lab with a budget. We are also leveraging other partners in the region who have resources to support vet labs. Through the district vet officer, we have been advocating for allocation of a budget and adding more personnel to support the lab. This means recruiting staff that are on the payroll.
In terms of the technical standards, it’s going to be a continuous process of conducting periodic assessments so that the labs do not fall back on the standards for which they were internationally accredited.
