2023-08-30 21:04:50
The Buruli Ulcer PCR Laboratory Network (BU-LABNET) will hold its fifth annual meeting in Accra, Ghana from 23-25 October 2023. This hybrid meeting (face-to-face and virtual) is expected to bring together approximately 60 participants (laboratories network members, partners and skin disease specialists) to take stock of progress made since the last meeting held in October 2022 and identify ways to implement skin disease control and management integrated in accordance with the WHO Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030 and Skin NTDs Framework and thereby achieve the vision of skin health for all. THE diagnostics and the laboratory capacity building received global and regional support in 2023, given their pivotal role in universal health coverage.
The meeting will be organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, the University of Ghana, the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and the BU-LABNET Coordinating Center of the Pasteur Center of Cameroon.
The BU-LABNET was created in 2019 under the auspices of the WHO. This network of 13 laboratories from nine endemic countries (Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Togo), which also includes external experts, is supported by WHO , American Leprosy Missions, the Anesvad Foundation (Spain) and the Raoul Follereau Foundation (France).
The objective of the network is to improve the diagnosis of Buruli ulcer by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) within member laboratories using standardized test protocols, using external quality assurance programs quality. The network also has a long-term goal of including other skin-manifesting NTDs on the same molecular diagnostic platform. These so-called skin-manifesting NTDs1 all require similar case detection and management approaches that offer opportunities for integration, thereby both improving cost-effectiveness and expanding coverage.
Since the first meeting in 2019, two other annual meetings have been held remotely (in July 2020 and December 2021), due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Due to the easing of restrictions related to COVID-19, the fourth annual meeting was held face-to-face in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from October 24 to 26, 2022.
The network has achieved several milestones, including the successful harmonization of Buruli ulcer diagnostic procedures for all member laboratories, the implementation of two external quality assessment rounds and assessment visits to 12 of these laboratories. With the support of partners, reagents and consumables for the polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of Buruli ulcer were donated to laboratories for routine testing. At the fifth annual meeting the focus will be on extending the activities of the network to include yaws, cutaneous leishmaniasis, mycetoma and leprosy, and expanding to other laboratories.
Meeting objectives
Review the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the October 2022 BU-LABNET network annual meeting; Present the activities carried out with a view to integrating other skin-manifesting NTDs on the BU-LABNET PCR diagnostic platform ulcer; Review and adopt draft harmonized procedures for PCR diagnosis of other cutaneous NTDs; Discuss communication and advocacy activities to promote the network; andPlan activities for the year 2024.
Expected results
Presentation and discussion of progress made since the October 2022 meeting; Adoption of PCR harmonized procedures for the diagnosis of yaws, cutaneous leishmaniasis, mycetoma and leprosy with a view to their implementation; Identification of advocacy activities and communications; and Approval of activities planned for 2024.
Participation
About 60 participants from Ghana and abroad are expected to attend the meeting, including:
the member laboratories of the BU-LABNET network, the BU-LABNET Coordination Center, experts and external partners of laboratories for Buruli ulcer, other experts and laboratories specialized in cutaneous NTDs,
as well as representatives
the Ghana Health Service, the WHO Office in Ghana, the WHO Regional Office for Africa, the WHO Global Leprosy Programme, and WHO Headquarters.
Inscription
To register online, please complete l’inscription zoom.
LANGUAGES
The meeting will be conducted in English and French and simultaneous interpretation will be provided in both languages.
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1 Buruli ulcer, cutaneous leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses, onchocerciasis, post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis, scabies and other ectoparasitoses, yaws.
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