Newly rehabilitated hospital laboratory to offer expanded services

On December 3, 2009, the Minister of Health inaugurated the newly rehabilitated laboratory at the Central Hospital in Beira. The laboratory underwent a complete rehabilitation of its infrastructure and received new equipment through $1.2 million in funding from USAID under the Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TBCAP) and the PEPFAR HIV/AIDS Care and Support Project implemented by Family Health International.

Although the rehabilitation was originally conceived for tuberculosis laboratory services only, collaboration with the Ministry of Health expanded the project into a comprehensive overhaul of all laboratory diagnostics services, including HIV/AIDS, hematology, parasitology, and microbiology. In addition, TBCAP will continue to provide training for lab technicians. With its vastly improved capacity, the lab will serve as a Regional Reference Laboratory for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS for the central provinces of Sofala, Zambezia, Manica, and Tete, which together represent the most populous region in the country.

The new medical facility in Beira will now serve as a regional
reference laboratory for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS for four provinces.