The East Africa Public Health Laboratory Network (EAPHLN) Project bulletin is published on a bi-annual basis. The bulletin targets stakeholders within the health sector both in Uganda as well as the wider East African region. EAPHLN is funded by the World Bank and aims to establish a network of efficient, high quality, accessible public health laboratories for the diagnosis and surveillance of tuberculosis (TB) and other communicable diseases within the East African region.

The laboratories in this regional network are serving as surveillance sites to monitor hotspots for disease transmission and are making optimal use of internet and mobile communications hence improving public health. In addition, they are supporting the roll-out of new diagnostic technologies for drug resistance monitoring and for more efficient TB diagnosis. There are three components to the project, the first component being assessment of each country’s diagnostic and surveillance capacity.

The second component is joint training and capacity building. The project is supporting training in a range of institutions in the five countries and across the region.

Finally, the third component is the joint operational research, knowledge sharing, regional coordination, and program management.

EAPHLN is a collaborative partnership between the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC), the member states of the East African Community (EAC and the World Bank.