National HIV Reference Laboratory WHO Centre of Excellence
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday September 4, 2023 09:58
This comes in recognition of the laboratory’s excellence in the field of HIV diagnosis and the potential of deeper collaboration in health and well being of people living with HIV.
Indications are that Botswana has made tremendous strides in improving its diagnostic and laboratory systems, particularly in the areas of human capacity building, health event and outbreak detection and management.
Addressing WHO delegates who toured the lab, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the designation of the laboratory as a WHO collaborating centre of excellence gives Batswana the confidence that they were on the right track in the road to achieving the WHO 2030 goal for epidemic control.
“The Botswana National HIV Reference Laboratory is not only accredited to ISO 15189, but was also designated as a WHO HIV Drug resistance laboratory (WHO RESNET) in 2019.
This was before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unbeknown to us all, this development was preparing a fertile ground for future public health diagnostic breakthroughs. It was not surprising, therefore, that through this laboratory we were able to discover the Omicron SARS COV-2 variant,” he said.
President Masisi further pointed out that the laboratory was undoubtedly one of the few facilities on the African continent and across the world to be designated as a WHO HIV RESNET lab.
He added that the designation of Botswana National HIV Reference Laboratory as a WHO Collaboration Centre, gives the country the confidence that they were on the right track towards to achieving the WHO 2030 goal for pandemic control.
He added that he was convinced that they were on the right path because they were recently bestowed with the silver tier award for the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.
The President added that they were the first high burdened country to achieve and exceed the UNAIDS targets on 95-95-95.
He added that they were now looking steadfastly at the attainment of the UNAIDS threshold target success rate of 100% of individuals (population) testing to know their HIV status.
Masisi said they are also looking at achieving 100 % total enrollment and adherence in anti-retroviral treatment for those whose test results are positive, and, delightfully having 100% of those receiving treatment, having 100% of suppression of the viral load in their bodies.
“In this regard, my conviction is that, with collective dedication, we will achieve these lofty targets given our current crusade on mindset change in line with the National Reset Agenda. Our national mindset change campaign should catalyse behavior change interventions and preventative actions on HIV/AIDS. As you are all aware, laboratory testing plays a crucial role in disease diagnostics; health and wellness assessment and surveillance; the management and control of pandemics and epidemics, as well as informing decisions on day-to-day patient care,” he said.
For his part, the director general of the WHO Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasised that the Botswana National HIV Reference Laboratory had long been a centre of excellence in responding to the challenges posed by HIV and in supporting the health sector and communities at large to provide the diagnoses and details needed to make informed, patient-centred choices.
He said WHO was proud to count the laboratory as a Collaborating Centre and looked forward to working together even more closely in providing the support and care needed for people living with HIV.