The Liberian delegation visits EPHI
The Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) hosts an experience sharing visit of the Liberian Delegation, representing the Liberia Diagnostics Unit, October 10 to 16, 2010.
The visit of the Liberian Delegation was aimed at sharing of experience on the Ethiopian Laboratory services program.
Upon the arrival of the delegation’s to the EHNRI, Dr. Tsehaynesh Mesele, Director General of EHNRI, welcomed members of the delegation and presented the overview of the entirety of EHNRI and its many programs.
During the week-long experience sharing visit, members of the Liberian delegation visited the Addis Ababa Regional Laboratory, St. Paul’s Federal Hospital, Adama Regional Laboratory, Adama Hospital, Bishoftu Hospital, CDC- Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Red Cross Association and Blood Bank.
According to members of the delegation, their visit to EHNRI enabled them to gain experience from the lab staff of each sites, and on-the-ground knowledge on how the Ethiopian laboratory system works.
Dr. Gudeta Tebeso, Director of Regional Laboratory Capacity Building Directorate at EHNRI, and his team has facilitated the delegation to visit the EHNRI labs, including the EQA panel preparation laboratory, polio, TB, and microbiology.
The Director and staff members of the Regional Laboratory Capacity Building Directorate has also explained about the Master Plan, the WHO-AFRO accreditation process, the EQA program, and other important parts of the national laboratory system.
A member of the delegation said that, the Liberian delegation was able to learn upon the visit about the history, strength and challenges of the Laboratory system in Ethiopia, and way forwards to avoid the program shortcomings.
According to the Directorate, the visit of the Liberian delegation marks a great movement towards the inter-African collaboration. It is also believed that the visit also serve as an example of all the benefit that can be gained from strengthening partnerships and collaborations within Africa, and learning from the strengths of other African nations.
The Delegation’s visit was concluded with a final meeting with the Regional Laboratory Capacity Building Directorate. It was discussed in the meeting that both parties are able to gain great experience from the one week long visit.