Context
Medical diagnostics plays a strategic role in fighting epidemics, antimicrobial resistance, and public health challenges in Africa. The Mérieux Foundation and the Institut Pasteur in Dakar launched the Afro-ACDx course in 2021 in response to the specific needs of French-speaking professionals on the African continent.
Organized every year in Senegal, the course is targeted at laboratory directors, managers, and institutional leaders responsible for critical decisions in the field of diagnostics in human and animal health. It is based on a “One Health” approach and aims to reinforce local biomedical laboratory capacity in Western and Central Africa.
Objective
The Afro-ACDx course was designed to improve the leadership skills of laboratory managers, promote the role and value of medical diagnosis, and encourage the sharing of experience between countries. It is based on the international ACDx program and the leadership module of the Global Laboratory Leadership Program (GLLP).
Activities
The course program is developed by a scientific committee made up of representatives of key institutions involved in diagnostics in Africa, such as the WHO, Africa CDC, FAO, WOAH, INRB, Institut Pasteur, FIND, RESAOLAB, and several private laboratories.
The six-day course takes the participants through a structured program of interactive sessions, practical workshops, and case studies. The themes addressed include the role of diagnostics in public health, leadership and motivation, laboratory organization, the fight against AMR, critical thinking, change management, access to diagnostics in the context of epidemics, and laboratory systems governance.
The course also encourages the creation of a community of alumni. Participants from previous years are invited back to share the course’s impact on their professional practice and benefit from further training in leadership.
