{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T14:17:44Z","timestamp":1788445064493,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782172800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The Africa Working Group, under the auspices of the Global Laboratory Quality Initiative of the Association for Diagnostics &amp; Laboratory Medicine (ADLM), conducted several educational workshops in Africa to promote laboratory quality in the region.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>The challenges faced in maintaining quality in clinical laboratories in low-resource countries may differ from region to region and country to country. To better understand current gaps and inform our engagement with partners in Africa, a needs assessment survey was distributed to 1427 ADLM members in Africa and further disseminated through local partners, resulting in 121 responses from participants across 8 countries in the region. Additionally, interviews were conducted with laboratory professionals from the countries surveyed. The surveys primarily focused on quality management, continuing education, budgeting, infrastructure and funding, supplies, and staffing issues.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>The data collected from the surveys and interviews strongly indicate that respondents face major challenges in all areas assessed, including lack of funding, lack of equipment, lack of quality control (QC) and external quality assessment (EQA) materials, gaps in quality management, lack of appropriate budgeting, staffing issues, and lack of accessible training\/continuing education. Consistent with the primary focus of ADLM;s Global Quality Initiative, improved access to continuing education was identified as the primary need by the participants (58%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>The assessment highlights that while a strong role for educational workshops in mitigating some of the challenges continues to exist, there is also an opportunity to broaden the scope of the working groups beyond education.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jalm\/jfag089","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]],"date-time":"2026-05-31T11:37:09Z","timestamp":1780227429000},"page":"1231-1242","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Current State and Needs of Clinical Laboratories in Selected Countries in Africa"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Merih","family":"Tesfazghi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Rush University Medical Center , Chicago, IL ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9553-298X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anne E","family":"Tebo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic , Rochester, MN ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roa","family":"Harb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, MD ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-6918-1217","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anthony O","family":"Okorodudu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch , Galveston, TX ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lee","family":"Schroeder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5610-3541","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeannette","family":"Guarner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine , Atlanta, GA ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Bales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) , St.Louis, MO ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jack","family":"Ladenson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University , St.Louis, MO ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Allison","family":"Targowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine , Washington, DC ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kerry","family":"Cosby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine , Washington, DC ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olajumoke","family":"Oladipo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pennsylvania State Milton S. 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