{"id":14882,"date":"2010-10-13T23:14:56","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T03:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=14882"},"modified":"2010-10-13T23:14:56","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T03:14:56","slug":"amp-and-cote-divoire-strengthen-their-collaboration-with-the-launch-of-a-mobile-laboratory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=14882","title":{"rendered":"AMP and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire strengthen their collaboration with the launch of a Mobile Laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, October 13, 2010 \u2013 The Agence de M\u00e9decine Pr\u00e9ventive (AMP), the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP), and the Institut Pasteur in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire (IPCI) announced today the launch of a mobile microbiology laboratory (LaboMobil\u00a9<\/sup>) to strengthen epidemic disease surveillance and health monitoring in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n

The mobile laboratory is an all-terrain vehicle outfitted with laboratory equipment (laminar flow incubator, centrifuge, refrigerator, fluorescent microscope). It has its own energy and water sources. A supplementary tool for reference laboratories, the LaboMobil\u00a9 <\/sup>provides critical support to microbiological surveillance of potentially epidemic diseases such as cholera and acute bacterial meningitis.<\/p>\n

Due to its mobility, the LaboMobil\u00a9<\/sup> allows rapid and reliable identification of the etiology of diarrheal and meningitis epidemics. It goes directly to suspected households, including those located in remote districts, to perform immediate, on-site microbiological diagnosis, thus reducing the delay in the implementation of appropriate, effective, and rapid outbreak responses (vaccination campaigns, preventive measures, adequate patient treatment, etc.).<\/p>\n

After the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire expressed interest in having a mobile laboratory, AMP partnered with INHP and IPCI to deploy and manage C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s first LaboMobil\u00a9<\/sup>. The collaborative project, entitled \u201cSupport for diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire,\u201d has the following objectives:<\/p>\n

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  1. To ensure a rapid and precise diagnosis of the causes of epidemiological alerts while strengthening the capacity of district laboratory technicians through training, retraining and formative supervision in sampling, conditioning, transport, and analysis of biological specimens.<\/li>\n
  2. To contribute to operational research on potentially epidemic diseases by conducting epidemiological and microbiological field studies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The new mobile laboratory, conceived by AMP and assembled in Germany by the company Robel\u00ae<\/sup>, is the third prototype to be used in West Africa. The first two prototypes, developed by AMP in 2003 and 2005, are both used in Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n

    This project strengthens the cooperation between C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire and AMP initiated in 1972 with then President Auguste Denise, renewed in Yamoussoukro in 1994 at the 4th<\/sup> International Seminar on Vaccinations in Africa (SIVAC), and reinforced in 1995 with \u201cEPIGEPS,\u201d a course in epidemiology and health program management for district-level medical officers. Since 1997, this collaboration has taken the form of a close working relationship with INHP in preventive vaccination campaigns against yellow fever and meningitis as well as field epidemiology training. In 2000, AMP opened a regional office in Abidjan to develop projects of international scope in partnership with the Ministry of Health, INHP, IPCI, the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS), and the University of Cocody-Abidjan:<\/p>\n