{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T15:07:04Z","timestamp":1788448024642,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751846400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004425","name":"Asian Development Bank","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TA-6818"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TA-6818"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004425","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Middle-income and especially low-income countries continuously seek ways to efficiently utilize their public funds to provide access to quality healthcare for their population. The government of the Kyrgyz Republic is embarking on a <jats:italic>Strengthening Regional Health Security Project<\/jats:italic> for the optimization and centralization of medical laboratories, which will be implemented as a pilot in two major cities and two regions of the country to improve essential laboratory testing for disease surveillance and diagnostics. Representative state-funded laboratories (6 bacteriological public health laboratories and 11 clinical diagnostic laboratories) were assessed using the World Health Organization\u2019s Laboratory Assessment Tool that covered the provision of services, condition of facilities, equipment, financing, reagent procurement, workflow, regulatory documents, and quality control and assurance. The five greatest weaknesses across the laboratories were identified as: (i) weak organization and management of laboratory, (ii) insufficient documentation management, (iii) inadequate facilities for biosafety, (iv) lack of biorisk management, and (v) unmet public health functions. The results of the assessment informed the design and development of a laboratory optimization master plan, including procurement of equipment and reagents, professional development of laboratory staff, and establishing laboratory networks starting with selected laboratories in two regions of the country. The restructuring, upgrading, and continuous quality improvement of laboratory networks will be achieved through strengthening governance capacity for the national laboratory system including regulation, standards, planning, financing, management, monitoring, and studies for innovative solutions. The approach to assessing the current situation and creating an improvement plan for optimizing laboratory services may be useful to countries facing similar challenges.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0004840","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,7]],"date-time":"2025-07-07T17:39:14Z","timestamp":1751909954000},"page":"e0004840","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessment and optimization plan for enhancing public medical laboratory services in the Kyrgyz Republic"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-5175-1439","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Taalaigul","family":"Sabyrbekova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elmira","family":"Turkmenova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2859-9313","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ping 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Health System Review","volume":"24","author":"S Moldoisaeva","year":"2022","journal-title":"Health Syst Transit"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref003","volume-title":"The Program of the Kyrgyz Republic Government on Public Health and Health Care System Development for 2019-2030, \u201cHealthy Person \u2013 Prosperous Country\u201d"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref004","volume-title":"Action Plan for 2019-2023 as the first five-year implementation phase of the Kyrgyz Republic Government\u2019s Program on Public Health and Health Care System Development for 2019\u20132030, \u201cHealthy Person \u2013 Prosperous Country\u201d"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref005","volume-title":"Order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 18 dated January 16, 2015, \u201cOn Approval of the Coordination Laboratory Council of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref006","unstructured":"Order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 168 dated March 1, 2017, \u201cOn Approval of the Provision on the Coordination Laboratory Council of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic\u201d."},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref007","unstructured":"Order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 347 dated May 20, 2016, \u201cOn Approval of the Policy and Strategy for Development of the Laboratory Services of the Health System of the Kyrgyz Republic\u201d."},{"issue":"4","key":"pgph.0004840.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2018-001033","article-title":"Making diagnostic tests as essential as medicines","volume":"3","author":"A Velazquez Berumen","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"},{"issue":"10315","key":"pgph.0004840.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1997","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(21)00673-5","article-title":"The Lancet Commission on diagnostics: transforming access to diagnostics","volume":"398","author":"KA 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the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 119 dated March 3, 2023, \u201cOn Approval of the Program \u201cTuberculosis-VI\u201d for 2023-2026 years","year":"2023"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref016","volume-title":"Assessment report of public health bacteriology laboratories in Chui region","author":"J Zwetyenga","year":"2021"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref017","volume-title":"On improvement of public health organizations laboratories. 1521","year":"2021"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref018","unstructured":"Order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 29-50 dated January 11, 2021, \u201cOn reorganization by merger of legally independent institutions \u2018Issyk-Kul Center for Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance\u2019 and \u2018Center for Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of Balykchy town\u2019 into the institution \u2018Issyk-Kul Interdistrict Center for Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance\u2019."},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref019","unstructured":"Order of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, No. 1711-1714 dated December 23, 2021, \u201cOn the reorganization \u2018United Family Medicine Center\u2019 institutions of Bishkek city districts\u201d."},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref020","volume-title":"Strengthening Regional Health Security Project: Report and Recommendation of the President","author":"Asian Development Bank","year":"2022"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref021","author":"Asian Development Bank","year":"2022"},{"key":"pgph.0004840.ref022","volume-title":"Healthcare delivery optimization plan for the Kyrgyz Republic. 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