Unlock Global Health Funding: Open Source Lab Systems Grant

The development, implementation, and support of quality management systems across clinical, laboratory and healthcare management services is a core element of PEPFAR’s long-term quality strategy for supported countries. The accreditation of laboratories is a “foundational” component of this strategy, which applies to facilities engaged in HIV diagnostics, as well as blood service labs engaged in HIV and other infectious disease screening, and the preparation of blood components for transfusion. Information systems that facilitate the rapid capture, management and analysis of information generated by a laboratory’s or blood service’s routine operations are an essential tool for laboratories seeking accreditation. However, the costs associated with procuring, installing and maintaining electronic information systems have historically been barrier to access for laboratories and blood services in sub-Saharan Africa (and other developing regions).

As a result, many blood services and laboratory systems in Africa and other resource-limited settings rely on sub-optimal paper-based systems, or limited electronic systems that are unable to capture and trace information (forward and backwards) through every link in the blood service or laboratory value chain. For blood services this means the ability to trace a unit of blood and related information from the blood donor to the transfusion recipient; for a laboratory this means the ability to trace specimens and related information from the collection point back to the physician providing care to the patient who provided the specimen.To address this gap, PEPFAR is supporting the development and implementation of lower-cost, quality assured information systems based on open source technologies. To promote the sustainability of this initiative, PEPFAR and CDC seek to fund an organization with experience in open source software development and implementation to provide such support to PEPFAR supported countries.